May 18 (1956)

Kutis scores its third victory over a German first-division team in five years by handily beating Schwaben Augsburg, 3-0, at Public Schools Stadium. Kutis, which defeated Nuernberg in 1955 and Eintracht Frankfurt (when the Kutis players were sponsored by Zenthoeffers) in 1951, capitalizes on Schwaben fouls for all three goals from Ruben Mendoza and future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famers Bill Looby and Harry Keough. The first comes in the 13th minute off a long free kick by Keough. Mendoza heads Keough’s kick to Looby, who “met it with a drive that almost ripped the goal netting from its hooks,” according to U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame journalist Dent McSkimming in the next day’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch. George Kneifel fouls Bob Rooney in the penalty area in the 47th minute, and Keough converts the penalty kick for a 2-0 lead. Another Schwaben foul later in the half leads to Mendoza heading in Val Pelizzaro’s free kick for the game’s final score. While Schwaben dominates the game for long stretches, “their series of six or seven or even eight neat passes culminated in a bad shot or an interception by the tireless St. Louis defenders or a remarkable save by Goalie Bob Burkard,” McSkimming will write. The match is a good warmup for Kutis as it prepares for the U.S. Amateur Cup finals, which it will win to mark the beginning of a remarkable string of six consecutive Amateur Cup championships.