July 2 (1979)

St. Louisans put on a show to spark the United States to a 6-0 victory over the Dominican Republic on the first day of group play in the Pan-American Games in San Juan, P.R. Don Ebert scores four goals, Perry Van Der Beck tallies the other two, and 19-year-old Jim Tietjens is in goal. Ebert, 20, scores three times in the first half and adds his fourth early in the second half. Van Der Beck, 19, strikes in the 76th and 79th minutes. Ebert will help SIU-Edwardsville win the NCAA Division I title later that year and will go on to become a high-scoring forward in pro indoor soccer, spending most of his career with the St. Louis Steamers. Van Der Beck, already playing professionally with the NASL’s Tampa Bay Rowdies, will be named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1985. Tietjens, a goalkeeper at St. Louis University, will turn pro in 1980 with the NASL’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers and will make two appearances outdoors during his career with the Strikers. He also will play indoors with the Strikers and the MISL’s Kansas City Comets.