December 9 (1972 & 1979)

Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville wins the first-ever NCAA College Division championship in 1972 and the last NCAA Division I championship by a St. Louis team in 1979. In 1972 Chris Carenza’s 52nd-minute tally is the game’s only goal as the Cougars win over Oneonta State at SIUE. (The College Division becomes NCAA Division II in 1973.) The game sees both teams in sneakers to stay upright on a slippery field as freezing rain and sleet fall during the second half. SIUE’s Rick Benben and Oneonta’s Steve Plisinki are outstanding in goal. The only tally comes when  “Carenza, drawing . . . Plisinski out of postion, made the goal on an angle shot,” Harold Flachsbart will write in the Dec. 10, 1972, issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He received a neat pushoff pass from Denny Driscoll after a play started in midfield by Tom Twellman.” SIUE finishes the season with an 11-0-3 record. Carenza leads the team with 12 goals and three assists. In 1979, Matt Malloy scores all of the Cougars’ goals in Tampa. Malloy’s final goal breaks a 2-2 tie with just three minutes left, off an assist from Tim Guelker, son of head coach and future U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame Bob Guelker. The NCAA titles in 1972 and 1979 are the sixth and seventh for Bob Guelker, who had won five as head coach at St. Louis University. His seven titles are the most by a head coach in men’s NCAA soccer.