July 13 (1986)

St. Louis teams go 1-2 in the finals of the U.S. Open, Amateur and Over-30 Cups. Kutis captures the first U.S. Open Cup title by a St. Louis team since . . . well, since Kutis won in 1957 . . . by beating the San Pedro (Calif.) Yugoslavs, 1-0, at the St. Louis Soccer Park. Meanwhile, Busch falls, 3-0, to the Fairfax (S.C.) Spartans in the Amateur Cup final and Kutis loses, 1-0, in overtime to the Tulsa (Okla.) Falling Stars in the Over-30 title game. Kutis prevails in the Open Cup thanks to Ted Hantak’s goal with 30 minutes remaining. As Kutis’ leading scorer, Hantak bears the brunt of Yugoslavs’ tactics charitably described as “physical.” Among numerous hits delivered to Hantak, one incident sees him take an elbow in the face early in the second half. Hantak briefly leaves the game, then comes back and converts a pass from Bob Matteson into a low shot stopped by goalkeeper Jusuf Gilic. The rebound comes right back to Hantak, whose header ricochets off the post and into the net. Goalkeeper Paul Dueker and defenders Matteson, Joe Clarke, Dave Bozdek and Albert Adade combine to keep the Yugoslavs out of the scoring column. In the Amateur Cup final, John Kerr Jr., who will win the 1986 Hermann Trophy at Duke at college soccer’s top player, scores the opening goal and assists on the second. Busch’s best opportunity comes on a first-half shot that Jim Kavanaugh, future co-owner of St. Louis’ MLS franchise, bends around the Spartans’ wall. Kavanugh’s shot forces a diving save by goalkeeper Neil Cowley. In the Over-30 final, the game goes goalless until Paul McDonald scores in the 115th minute.