IN THIS ISSUE 3 Match Day Preview 4 Stadium Map 9-10 Conference Standings 12-14 How Antoine Hoppenot Was Molded 16-23 Reno 1868 FC Roster 24-25 Technical Staff 27 Hoppenot Earns USL Honors How Antoine Hoppenot Was Molded (12) 2 MATCHDAY PREVIEW RENO 1868 FC BRINGS HOTTEST STREAK BACK TO GREATER NEVADA FIELD SATURDAY RENO, Nev. – Reno 1868 FC will look to extend its unbeaten streak to 13-straight matches Saturday as the club welcomes Portland Timbers 2 to Greater Nevada Field. Kickoff is slated for 7:15 p.m. for World Cup Celebration Night. Reno’s unbeaten streak began with a win over the playoff-contending Portland Timbers 2 back on April 21 in Portland. Reno has not lost a game since and will look to build on its playoff campaign against a squad one spot ahead in the Western Conference standings. Reno sits in seventh place after starting off the year at the bottom of the table going winless through its first four matches. Reno is coming off a 2-0 road win over San Antonio FC. Forward Brian Brown leads the club with five goals while Antoine Hoppenot sits atop the assist rankings with six. Portland has maintained its excellent form despite going 2-3 in their past five matches. Foster Langs- dorf leads the club with six goals this year, just three behind Golden Boot leaders Kharlton Belmar and Thomas Enevoldsen. Fans are encouraged to wear their favorite national team jersey to Saturday’s match in honor of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Gates for Saturday’s match opens up at 6:15 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Greater Nevada Field box office or online at Reno1868FC.com/tickets. 3 STADIUM MAP FRONT OFFICE Eric Edelstein Doug Raftery President Sr. Director of Corporate Partner- ships Andy Smith General Manager Regan Hahesy Corporate Partnerships Samantha Hicks Services Manager Chief Revenue Officer Max Simpson Aldo Amato Corporate Partnerships Coordinator Digital Media & PR Manager Robert Ritchie Vince Ruffino Ticket Sales Manager Marketing Manager Zoe Harmon Jared Longland Account Specialist - Member Creative Manager Services Stefan Bray Account Executive GREATER NEVADA FIELD 250 EVANS AVE RENO, NEVADA 89501 RENO1868FC.COM ¡Vamos Azules! You Make Our Hometown Renown Official Insurance Plan and Healthcare Partners WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS EASTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS 7 8 9 how antoine hoppenot was molded by antoine hoppenot/usl 10 HOW ANTOINE HOPPENOT WAS MOLDED - A LAYER OF PARISIAN ROOTS As you can probably tell by now, I’m French. My parents are distinctly French, my extended family still lives in France, and I was born in the city of love: Paris. Up until the age of two, I was just about as French as it gets. That is until my parents decided to trek across the Atlantic and make camp in a Philadelphia suburb. Ripping me away from the creamiest cheeses and the softest baguettes to a city where they combine inferior Americanized ingredients to create the delicious world famous cheesesteak. As I aged and grew up (minimally height wise), at first in Pennsylvania, and then in New Jersey, so began my journey into the world of soccer. As most young kids do, I picked up team sports like baseball, basketball and soccer around age six. At age seven, I got beaned in the head during an at-bat, thus ending my illustrious baseball career without ever getting even a single hit. [Enter jokes here from my teammates about how I’ve headed the ball more in my baseball career than my soccer one.]but significant difference that has seen the Reno look more dangerous in the attacking third. “Last year I came to Reno for a week and really liked it. So that’s why I made my decision to come here and develop as a player.” A DASH OF “THE ANSWER” W/ SWAGGER Basketball became an issue once I realized that my dreams of being 6-foot-6 may never materialize. That dream stayed alive throughout high school. But I continued with soccer as it was the only sport that I was relatively good at. Baseball and basketball did have an important effect on my soccer career though. Baseball teaching me never to head the ball, and basketball by introducing me to the 76ers and Allen Iverson. Weirdly enough, he became the first to shape my attitude on a soccer field. Anyone who has seen Allen Iverson play basketball understands the incredible energy that he put out every night. Generously listed at six-foot tall, he would drive with reckless abandon into the paint and draw contact against bigger, stronger, and taller players. He was a fearless ball of energy, which is something that I always admired. His ability to change the game with this fearlessness and desire to create a scoring opportunity was something I knew I could add to the way I played soccer. There is no athlete outside of soccer who has had a 11 HOW ANTOINE HOPPENOT WAS MOLDED - 2 PARTS “WENGERBALL” GUNNER STYLE Around the same time, Arsene Wenger became the Arsenal manager, and soon afterwards Thierry Henry joined him as a Gunner. Other than drinking wine and eating cheese, being an Arsenal fan in the early 2000s is as French as it gets. With the likes of Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka, Emmanuelle Petit and Robert Pires among others, there was always a pleth- ora of French players to look up to. As a young striker, Thierry Henry was obviously a player I admired, and thus tried to mirror my game to his. His combination of pace and skill was an absolute nightmare to play against. He used his talent and an impressive will to win to become a game changer and ultimately a legend of the sport. These were traits I wanted to add in my own game. All the while, Wenger was implementing what became known as “Wengerball.” A style of play that focused on possession and decision making in an effort to not only win, but control the game. This philosophy has stuck with me ever since I grew up watching the “Invincibles” dominate an entire season in 2003-04. A BASE OF BULGARIAN GRIT While watching others compete, my own youth career was beginning to take shape. After moving to Princeton, I joined a local Princeton soccer team that was coached by a newly appointed Bulgarian coach named Stoyan Pumpalov. He had just arrived in the U.S. after a lengthy professional career back in his home country. He brought a Bulgarian grit and intensity that is only prevalent in people who are able to translate the efforts necessary to be successful in life to the world of sports. As years passed his passion and love for the game seeped into everything my teammates and I did. He brought together a group of local kids and created a team that was able to compete with the biggest youth clubs in the state. For the most important formative years of my youth soccer career, he was the one who was molding me into the player I am today. To this day that Bulgarian intensity, and occasional insanity, still guides me through tough practices and games. 4 YEARS SCOTTISH TUTELAGE For the last four years of my youth career, I was also competing with my high school team. This team was lead by a Scottish coach named Malcolm Murphy, who had played at the highest level throughout his youth and professional career in England. His British attitude and view about soccer, which consisted of a combination of hard work and sacrifice for each other, helped shape a group of players with little playing experience into an adequate team. Preseason consisted of mostly running around the field without a ball, and 1v1 drills that everyone lovingly described as secret fitness. He was tough on players, even pushing some to the breaking point. For the four years there, I was lovingly referred to as an “arrogant #$*+!”. His uncompromising stance forced my teammates and I to build a thick skin, and the capacity to take criticism in whatever form it came. 2 PARTS AMERICAN INSIGHT INFUSED WITH TIGER BLOOD After a youth career that was dominated by French, Scottish, and Bulgarian influences I moved on to Princeton University where I had the opportunity to play for the Tigers and learn from an American legend, Jim Barlow. He was coached by Bob Bradley throughout his college career and has been the head coach of Princeton University’s men’s soccer team for over 20 years. Throughout his coaching career he’s worked closely with U.S. youth programs, and he brought this plethora of experience to coaching me for the four years I was there. Coach Barlow and our assistant coach Steve Totten helped imprint on my teammates and I the importance of tactical ideas and defensive organization. It was the important next step in my lifelong soccer education. Pairing these complex tactical ideas with the grit and discipline learned during my youth career helped me understand the game of soccer at a more macro level. 12 THE MOST REFRESHING FINISH ©2018 COORS BREWING CO., GOLDEN, CO TEAM #1 RUSSELL KLABOUGH (GK) Klabough, 27, spent a majority of last season on Reno’s practice squad, but started in a 6-1 win over Portland Timbers 2. He was Reno’s starting goal- keeper in two U.S. Open Cup Matches. He posted a 67 percent save percentage, the second-highest on the team and was 1-0 during the regular sea- son. HEIGHT: 6’5’’ WEIGHT: 215 LBS DOB: 5/11/90 #3 CONNOR JOHNSON (D) Defender Connor Johnson was the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2016 before joining the PDL’s Golden State Force.