December 1 (1979)

The Steamers, the first completely indoor professional soccer franchise to represent St. Louis, lose their first game, 5-4, to the Cleveland Force at Richfield Coliseum. A snowstorm delays the game for an hour. A reported crowd of 4,300 sees defender Carl Rose score the Steamers’ first goal at 3:26 of the first quarter. The Force respond with four unanswered goals to lead, 4-1, at halftime. Dan Counce counters for the Steamers on an assist from Manny Cuenca with the Steamers on the power play in the third quarter. The pair combine again for a power-play goal early in the final period to cut the Steamers’ deficit to 4-3. The Force pull ahead, 5-3. An unassisted goal from the Steamers’ Tom Galati completes the scoring. Bob Robson is the goalkeeper for St. Louis in the first half and Eric Delabar takes over in the second half. The Steamers will struggle in the won-lost column, finishing their first season with a 12-20 record, but will be the talk of St. Louis with an average attendance well above that of their Checkerdome co-residents, the NHL’s St. Louis Blues. The Steamers will average 14,060 for 16 games in the 17,968-seat Checkerdome. The Blues will average 12,259 for 40 home dates.