Saint Louis–SIU Edwardsville men's soccer rivalry

Saint Louis–SIU Edwardsville soccer rivalry
Sport Soccer
Teams
First meeting November 22, 1969
Saint Louis 4, SIUE 0
Latest meeting October 15, 1995
Saint Louis 4, SIUE 1
Next meeting 2018
Trophy Bronze Boot
Statistics
Meetings total 35
All-time series Saint Louis leads, 25–9–1

The Saint Louis–SIU Edwardsville men's soccer rivalry was an American college soccer rivalry between the Saint Louis University Billikens and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Cougars. The winner of each year's game received the Bronze Boot.

History

In the late 1950s through early 1970s, the Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer program was in it's golden age, and won all 10 of it's NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship titles during that span. The program became noteworthy for focusing on recruiting domestic talent from the Saint Louis region rather than other top college programs that were reliant on international recruitment. The talent pool of domesti players from the St. Louis region caused nearby universities such as Quincy, Rockhurst and SIU Edwardsville to experience strong soccer seasons as well.

After Saint Louis experienced Division I success, SIU Edwardsville also experienced success with their program winning national championships at the D-II level. Due to the proximity of the schools, early matches between the schools attracted large crowds to their games. In 1971, the CYC initiated the annual Bronze Boot match which would be a trophy awarded annually to the regular season match up between SLU and SIUE.[1] The popularity saw crowd sizes that set college soccer records, including the highest ever attended college soccer match for a regular season game: 22,512 between the two sides on October 30, 1980.[2][3] The games were normally held at Busch Stadium to accommodate the large crowds.

In 1995, the series ended when SIU Edwardsville moved down to Division II men's soccer.[1] In 2007, the Cougars returned to Division I, and speculation rose about the teams playing again and resuming the series, although it remained dormant for another decade. Despite this, the teams played each other in spring season friendlies and preseason friendlies.[1]

The series will resume in 2018 and 2019 as both programs have agreed to play in a home-and-home series.[4]

NCAA All-Time Largest Men's Soccer Crowds [5]
# Date Opponents Location Game Attendance
1 October 30, 1980 SIUE vs St. Louis Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, MO 11h Annual Bronze Boot Game 22,512
7 November 8, 1973 SIUE vs St. Louis Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, MO 4th Annual Bronze Boot Game 20,112
14 November 5, 1972 SIUE vs St. Louis Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, MO 3rd Annual Bronze Boot Game ≥15,000

Coach Bob Guelker

The Billikens' program was begun as a club program in 1958 by St. Louis U. alumnus Bob Guelker. After going 4–1–0 in that first season, the administration promoted the team to varsity status in 1959.[6] The new team was 11–1–0 and won the inaugural NCAA Soccer Championship. The Billikens defended their title in 1960 and won again in 1962, 1963, and 1965 under Coach Guelker.[7]

In 1966, SIU Edwardsville began establishing an NCAA College Division {now Division II) athletic program. In doing so, SIUE hired away two coaches from St. Louis U.'s higher profile University Division (now Division I) program. Bob Guelker was hired as the Cougars' first athletic director and soccer coach. As he had done at SLU, Coach Guelker quickly turned his new program into a regional and national power. In their first three seasons of eligibility. the Cougars were in the NCAA Tournament and nationally ranked. [8] 1972 was the first year of the NCAA College Division Men's Soccer Championship. As his Billikens had won the first NCAA title in 1959, Guelker's Cougars won the first College Division/Division II crown in 1972.[9] After the 1972 season, SIU Edwardsville and a number of other schools that emphasized their soccer programs took advantage of a then-current NCAA rule that allowed a Division II school to play one sport in Division I and moved into the higher division. In addition to winning the first NCAA title in 1969 and the first Division II title in 1972, in 1979, Guelker's Cougars won Division I,[7] and he became the first coach to win Division I and II titles and the only coach to win both divisions at the same school.[7][10]

Results

Saint Louis victoriesSIUE victories

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Labelle, Kurt (May 20, 2013). "St. Louis Remembers Old Soccer Rivalry Between SLU & SIUE". KTVI. Fox Broadcasting Company. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Men’s Soccer Attendance Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. ncaa.org. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  3. ↑ Kennedy, Paul (September 27, 2010). "Gauchos break on-site attendance record". Soccer America. Retrieved July 6, 2017. The NCAA regular-season attendance record is 22,512, set on October 30, 1980, when Saint Louis played SIU-Edwardsville for the Bronze Boot at Busch Stadium.
  4. ↑ Hayes, Pete (May 10, 2017). "THE ‘BOOT’ IS BACK: SIUE, SLU agree on home-and-home men’s soccer series". The Telegraph. Civitas Media. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  5. ↑ "ALL-TIME LARGEST CROWDS" (PDF). Men's Soccer Attendance Records. NCAA. 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "SLU Soccer History and Record Book" (PDF). Saint Louis University. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 "NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship History". NCAA & Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Men's Soccer Bob Guelker". Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  9. ↑ "NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship History". NCAA & Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  10. ↑
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