April 11 (1926)

Ben Miller of St. Louis loses to Bethlehem Steel, 7-2, in the final of the National Challenge Cup (today’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup) at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, N.Y., before 12,041 fans. Legendary forward and future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Archie Stark lives up to his reputation by netting three goals for Bethlehem, which wins its fifth Cup championship. Ben Nash scores both of Ben Miller’s goals. Another legendary future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer, the Ben Millers’ Jimmy Dunn, doesn’t make the trip from St. Louis because he could not get time off of his job at a St. Louis department store, which had scheduled a big sale the day before the game. “The store manager would not give me permission to make the trip and with a family of two children dependent on me, I did not want to jeopardize my position by disobeying orders,” Dunn says. One of Dunn’s children, Ebbie, will coach St. Louis University High School teams to 592 wins and two state titles and will be inducted into the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame. Ebbie will be named after Jimmy’s brother, who plays for Ben Miller against Bethlehem Steel. Ebbie Dunn will be killed by a tornado that devastates central St. Louis in 1927.