TEAM (1973 Men's Soccer)
The 1973 UMSL men’s soccer team becomes the first team to join the UMSL Sports Hall of Fame. The 1973 men’s soccer team finished the season with a record of 11-0-3, and claimed UMSL’s first and to this day, only NCAA Championship. The team opened the season with a tie against Division I National Champion St. Louis University, then went on to win their next four before another tie with SIU Edwardsville. After two more wins, the team tied Rockhurst College before winning their final five games. UMSL started the NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 win against Western Illinois and then defeated Eastern Illinois 2-1 to calaim the Midwest Regional title. In the national semifinals, UMSL beat Adelphi 1-0 on a goal in the second half from Jim McKenna to advance to the National Championship game where they beat Cal-State Fullerton 3-0. Kevin Missey scored two of the three UMSL goals in the national championship game against Cal-State Fullerton and Mark LeGrand scored the other UMSL goal.
Tim Smith was the leading scorer for UMSL on the season, scoring 13 goals and adding eight assists for 34 points. At that time, his numbers set UMSL school records for goals, assists and points in a single season. Smith scored four goals and had two assists for 10 total points in a win against Washington University (Mo.), and he still holds the single game record for most goals (4) and most points (10) in a single game. Tim Kersting scored seven goals and had five assists on the season for 19 points. Frank Tusinski was the starting goalkeeper for the Rivermen, recording 90 saves on the season and allowing just 12 goals in 14 games and recorded seven shutouts. Kevin Missey and Frank Tusinski both received national honors following the championship season as both were named all-region and All-American selections.
Despite the individual success of many players, it was the team unity and cohesiveness that led UMSL to the national title. Following the national championship victory, head coach Don Dallas offered this quote that personified the team effort: “Pick out an individual hero? How can I? Everyone did his job superlatively and that’s what it took to win it.”
The team already has a few connections to the UMSL Sports Hall of Fame, as the team’s head coach, Don Dallas, was inducted in the inaugural class in 2001, as was the teams’ goalkeeper that season, Frank Tusinski, and Ken Hudson was inducted in 2002 as women’s soccer head coach. In addition, trainer Ted Struckmann was inducted to the Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
1973 Men's Soccer Championship Team at the 2004 UMSL Sports Hall of Fame
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Front Row (Left to Right): Chris Werstein, Steve Stockmann, Jim Creamer, Mark LeGrand, Frank Flesch, Pat Reagan, Tim Kersting, Mark Dorsey. |
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Back Row (Left to Right): Don Schmidt, Luke Wientge, Rick Anselm, Pat Hogan, Mike Caraffa, Ed Fleming, Frank Tusinski, Don Deason, Tim Fitzsimmons, Al Rudruff, John Kroll, Jim McKenna |
