March 10 (1946)

The Noels defeat Carondelet Sunday Morning Athletic Club (CSMAC), 4-3, on an overtime goal by Frank Pastor in the Municipal League semifinals at Fairground Park. Without a professional league in St. Louis since the folding of the 30-year-old St. Louis League in 1938, the Muny League fills the bill as the main attraction for hungry St. Louis soccer fans. Fans often turn out in droves for Muny games. A paid crowd of 4,109 sees the Noels-CSMAC thriller. The high level of Muny League play can be gauged by the talent on the field: CSMAC’s goalkeeper is future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Frank Borghi, whose performance will be described as “brilliant” in the next day’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Borghi’s CSMAC teammates include Herman Wecke, who will be one of the top players for Kutis, perhaps the best team in the United States, in the 1950s. CSMAC also includes Bill Keough, brother of future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Harry Keough. The Noels include longtime St. Louis standout Ollie Bohlman, whose goal on a penalty kick with one minute left sends the game into overtime. Pastor, who scored the winning goal, was a member of U.S. Open Cup champions Stix, Baer and Fuller and the Central Brewers in the 1930s. The Noels will go on to lose in the Muny League finals to defending champion Raftery’s. Many current Muny players will fill the rosters of the four teams in the new semipro St. Louis Major League, which will begin play in the 1947-48 season.