February 22 (1925)

The semifinals of the Municipal Association (popularly known as “the Muny League”) draw an estimated crowd of 10,000, who watch St. Mathew’s and Hense’s prevail in a doubleheader at Fairground Park Field 2. Early-morning rains leave standing water on parts of the field. Nevertheless, St. Mathew’s prevails over Voss, 2-1, by scoring the winning goal with eight minutes left. Hense’s scores five times in the second half to smash Kenrick, 7-0. St. Mathew’s will go on to win the championship of the Muny Association, which is limited to amateur teams, by winning the deciding game of the three-game finals 2-1 on March 15, thanks to a goal by Bill Lehman with seven minutes remaining. The teams will split the first two games, with St. Mathew’s winning the opener, 4-1, and Hense’s taking the second game 1-0. St. Mathew’s also won the 1923 Muny championship. Hense’s, sponsored by a butcher shop of the same name at 6402 Wise Ave., reached the Muny finals three times during four seasons in the league from 1921-25 and scored a memorable 1-0 win in 1925 over Vesper Buick, a professional team in the St. Louis League that had gained the finals of the National Challenge Cup (today’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup) in 1924.