Antoine Hoppenot on VE roster for U.S. Open Cup clash with Charlotte Independence

A familiar face to Philadelphia Union fans will be suiting up for Vereinigung Erzgebirge tonight in their U.S. Open Cup match against USL League One side Charlotte Independence.

Antoine Hoppenot played for the Philadelphia Union from 2012-2015 and also played with the Harrisburg City Islanders on loan. He was drafted out of Princeton University and became known early in his career for his contributions off the bench. He had 7 goals in 69 appearances during his time in Chester. He had a goal in 5 Open Cup appearances with the Union.

Hoppenot went on to play for six different teams in the USL Championship before finishing his pro career last season with Hartford Athletic. He has logged 797 hours across 14 Open Cup match appearances and has three goals and a pair of assists.

He currently works for Philadelphia apparel company Icarus FC.

Hoppenot won’t be the only player with Philadelphia Union ties in the first round Open Cup tie tonight at Cairn University in Langhorne. Anton Sorenson, a former Philadelphia Union homegrown left back, signed with the Independence in the offseason and veteran center back Hugh Roberts, who played with Bethlehem Steel FC in 2017, is on the team.

Philadelphia Union Academy grads Chris Gomez and Patrick Murphy are also on VE’s roster.

The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and will be streamed live on USLSoccer.com.

Even if Philadelphia Union was playing in @opencup this year (which they are not), the Icarus team would still have allegiances elsewhere.

Why? Our new Head of Sales, Antoine Hoppenot, is semi-un-retiring to bolster @VEClub‘s squad against Charlotte Independence.

From Philly to… pic.twitter.com/ahWV2LpT6j

— Icarus Football (@icarus_football) March 19, 2024