July 23 (1961)

Kutis, perhaps the best soccer team of its time in the United States, coasts to its sixth consecutive U.S. Amateur Cup championship by tying the Hartford (Conn.) Italian-American Stars, 3-3, in Hartford in the second game of a two-game series decided on total goals. Kutis had won the first game in St. Louis, 11-0, on July 15 behind five goals from future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Bill Looby, two apiece from Butch Cook and future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Bobby Kehoe, and one each from Freddy Vasquez and Bill Eppy. Needing a miracle, the Stars start strongly in the second game and open a 3-0 lead. But the game changes dramatically when Kutis inserts forward Guenther Reinholdlt late in the first half. Reinholdt, the only non-St. Louisan in the Kutis lineup, sets up Vasquez and Larry Hausmann for goals. Looby ties the score with five minutes left to play on a pass from Bob Rooney. The 1961 national title will be the last for the core group of Kutis players who had won the previous five Amateur Cups and the 1957 U.S. Open Cup. Kutis is the last team in history to win the Amateur and Open Cups in the same year.