Category: College Sports

Here is another of the kind of story that the World Cup is so good at creating.

Fifteen years ago, Markhus “Duke” Lacroix arrived at Penn from New Egypt, N.J., a small town in Ocean County near Fort Dix. He had 25 goals and 15 assists in 68 games for the Quakers, earning All-Ivy League honors in all four of his varsity seasons.

He earned a pro career from that, but not in MLS. Instead, he has spent a decade grinding through a series of lower-division American clubs: first in the former North American Soccer League, then in the USL Championship since 2017. His sixth team, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks, has been his home since 2023.

It’s rare for that resumé to open a door to a national team career. But Haiti, the country of Lacroix’s ancestors, scouted him and offered him an opportunity in 2019. Though it didn’t work then because of passport issues amid the pandemic, he remained interested.

In 2023, the time was right, and everything came together. Lacroix now has 16 caps for Les Grenadiers as a left back, including five last year in a run to their first men’s World Cup qualification since 1974. He has three goals for the team, including one last Tuesday in a World Cup warmup game vs. New Zealand.

Earlier this month, he earned a place on Haiti’s tournament squad, meaning a return to Philadelphia is in the works. But it won’t just be to potentially play against mighty Brazil in South Philadelphia.

Haiti is also expected to use Penn’s Rhodes Field soccer facility as a game-day eve training site, which means Lacroix will get to return to his old college stomping grounds.

What a way to come full circle.

“To be there representing Haiti, part of my identity, part of who my parents are, and my family, friends, loved ones, being Haitian, and to be able to represent that national team is truly special,” he told The Inquirer. “And to be a part of the group that’s got us there, and then have the opportunity to play in the World Cup, is amazing.”

On a personal level, he said, “It’s a dream. Every professional player who plays this game wants to play in front of the largest crowds, in front of the biggest stadiums, at the highest level, and the World Cup is the epitome of that for this sport.”

Lacroix also happily embraces the unlikeliness of his path.

“I think if you were to tell me at the outset upon graduating that this would be kind of the trajectory or a possible destination, I would have chuckled a little bit and been really happy,” he said. “But to make it happen, a lot of things have to go right. Very, very fortunate to be in this position where I’m at now. A lot of people who supported, helped, and guided along the way to make it happen — none of it was explicitly my own.”

His sociology degree has come in handy plenty over the years, but it’s especially useful now. The U.S. government’s ban on Haitian citizens entering the country means they can’t come for the World Cup. Even though Haiti has a big diaspora in the U.S. and Canada that will attend (pending the exorbitant ticket prices, of course), the situation matters to Lacroix.

“A cliché about this in soccer, or sport, is there’s certain things that are bigger than sport, and what we do can be a connector at times, even though it’s such a simple game,” he said. “I think this is a moment where what is being done on the pitch, the sentiment and the support and the sensation from the Haitian fans around what this team has done, has kind of been a unifying and rallying thing for the Haitian country given what is going on, where the World Cup is being hosted, and the restrictions being placed on our supporters and on our people to come and watch the matches.”

People who watched Lacroix in his youth and college days have enjoyed watching his career since then.

“I don’t think any of his success and impact, on or off the field, is surprising to those that coached or played around Duke at at any point in his career,” said his Penn coach, Rudy Fuller. “As an undergrad, he was very driven and focused and serious and mature, and it was reflected in our team and the success we had. … There’s no question that we would never have won the Ivy League title and played in the NCAA Tournament [in 2013] and achieved the success we achieved without Duke — his leadership, his impact on the field, and just his overall approach as a human being.”

Fuller was happy to “take very little credit” for Lacroix’s success, “because he has really worked hard to develop himself as an athlete, as a leader, as a man, and he’s been paid dividends for that.

Kevin Nuss of the semipro Ocean City Nor’easters coached Lacroix with the USL League Two club for a few summers during his college years. He recalled a player who “was extremely successful on the field, but I also think set the tone in terms of the type of person that we wanted at the club.”

Nuss added that Lacroix plans to visit the current Nor’easters during Haiti’s pre-World Cup training camp at Stockton University in Galloway Township, not far up the road.

“Kids, especially for us at the Nor’easters, at our academy level, are able to see a guy that went through all of the levels and made it real,” he said. “The fact that it’s Duke is the perfect vessel, the perfect person, the most humble guy that you can walk right up to, shake hands, have a conversation with.”

Both coaches also praised Lacroix’s work with the USL Players Association, of which he has been the president for two years.

So, what about that return to Rhodes Field? It doesn’t look like much, wedged between the Schuylkill Expressway and the Amtrak tracks, but it happens to be the Big 5’s only soccer venue with natural grass. The pitch has been used by a lot of visiting pro teams over the years, from U.S. national squads to David Beckham’s Los Angeles Galaxy back in the day.

It was no surprise that Penn and the city put the venue forward as a World Cup practice site. But it’s still a long-shot tale that a former Quaker will train there as a tournament player.

“To walk on that ground again as an international footballer,” Lacroix said, “I’ve been back a couple times, obviously. But to be able to walk back in to wear the Haiti jersey at the same time — the last time I was wearing a jersey was the Penn jersey.”

He said it will be “a really special, full-circle moment for me,” even compared to the other big one in town.

“I mean, playing Brazil at Lincoln Financial [Field], few moments will ever elevate above that,” he said. “But on a smaller, personal note, to have that moment back on Penn’s campus will be special.”