GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany – Matthew Hoppe became the first American to record a hat-trick in the Bundesliga, leading Schalke 04 to a 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim as the former won its first league game in almost a year Saturday.

Hoppe, 19, a graduate of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy who hails from Yorbe Linda, Calif., played in his fifth league match as Schalke snapped a 30-game winless streak.

A tie or loss would have equaled the league record of 31 winless matches, which was set more than 50 years ago.

After the final whistle, California Dreaming was played as Hoppe’s teammates hugged him.

“I was able to take my chances,” Hoppe was quoted by Agence-France Press. “The win will give us confidence and some momentum. There are 19 games left, hopefully we can stay up in the first division.”

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.