Nov. 2 (1984)

It’s an outdoor soccer score on an indoor rink: The St. Louis Steamers open the season with that indoor soccer rarity, a shutout, in a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Sting before 13,115 fans at The Arena. Future Indoor Soccer Hall of Famer Slobo Ilijevski posts his fifth career shutout. “He was in midseason form Friday, making acrobatic saves on difficult shots and treating the crowd to a wide variety of dives, leaps and assorted stops,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter Arnold Irish will write in the next day’s Post-Dispatch. “I got great help,” Ilijevski says. “Our defense was unbelievable.” Former U.S. National Teamer Tony Bellinger scores a goal and assists on the other by another ex-National Teamer, Njego Pesa. National Team veteran Ty Keough assists on Bellinger’s goal. Ilijevski will finish the season with a 4.00 goals-against average, second only to Scott Manning of the Baltimore Blast. The Steamers will post a 24-24 record and will be eliminated by the Kansas City Comets in the wild-card round that opens the playoffs.