April 8 (1990)

Steve Trittschuh gives the sparse Soccer Park crowd of 3,287 plenty to cheer about as he scores a goal for the United States, and saves a potential goal by Iceland, as the U.S. Men’s National Team prevails 4-1 in a warmup for the 1990 World Cup. The Granite City, Ill., native and former SIU-Edwardsville player opens the scoring with a goal on a header in the 16th minute. He prevents a goal when he spectacularly clears a ball off the U.S. goal line with his head and breaks up several other scoring opportunities with sliding tackles. Eric Wynalda scores the Americans’ second and third goals in the first half, and Bruce Murray makes it 4-0 in the 57th minute. Iceland’s Petur Petursson nets a consolation goal on a penalty kick in the 85th minute. Trittschuh’s pushing foul on Petursson in the penalty area leads to the PK. The United States will go on to lose all three of its group stage games at the World Cup in Italy, while Trittschuh will amass 37 caps and two goals for the United States from 1987-95. After retiring as a player in 2001, Trittschuh will embark on a coaching career in MLS and the USL Championship, eventually leading to him becoming the head coach of St. Louis FC in January 2020.