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Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer

American college soccer team

Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer

American college soccer team

FieldValue
nameSaint Louis Billikens men's soccer
logoSt louis men soccer logo.png
logo_size100
founded
universitySaint Louis University (United States)Saint Louis University
conferenceAtlantic 10 Conference
conference_shortAtlantic 10
citySt. Louis
stateabbMO
stateMissouri
coachKevin Kalish
tenure5th
stadiumHermann Stadium
capacity6,050
nicknameBillikens
color1Blue
color2White
color3Grey
hex1003DA5
hex2ffffff
hex3C4C2BD
pattern_b1_bluecollar
body1ffffff
rightarm1ffffff
shorts1ffffff
socks1ffffff
pattern_la2_whiteborder
pattern_ra2_whiteborder
leftarm20000ff
body20000ff
rightarm20000ff
shorts20000ff
socks20000ff
NCAAchampion1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973
NCAArunnerup1961, 1971, 1974
NCAAcollegecup1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1991, 1997, 2025
NCAAeliteeight1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1991, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2021, 2025
NCAAsweetsixteen1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2021, 2025
NCAAtourneys1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025
conference_tournament1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2025
conference_season1991, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2025

The Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of Saint Louis University. The Saint Louis Billikens compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. Soccer is the main fall sport at SLU, which has not sponsored football since 1949.

Despite the long soccer tradition in the city of St. Louis, the University did not field a varsity team until 1959, when the Billikens won the first NCAA soccer championship held. With Bob Guelker as coach, the team achieved a 11–1 record that season. They defeated the University of Bridgeport 5–2 in the championship game.

Noted for their dominance in men's collegiate soccer during the late 1950s through the mid-1970s, the Billikens have won 10 NCAA Men's Soccer Championships, the most of any men's college soccer program in Division 1. Despite this, the Billikens have not appeared in an NCAA national championship final since 1974, and have appeared in the college cup thrice since then: 1991, 1997, and 2025. Of their ten titles, nine were outright earned by the Billikens and their 1967 title was shared with the Michigan State Spartans.

During their dynasty run from the 1960s through 1970s, the team was coached by Bob Guelker during their first five championships, while Harry Keough coached the last five championship teams at SLU. Dan Donigan was the most recent head coach, serving from February 2001 until he resigned in January 2010 to accept a position at Rutgers. Presently, the Billikens are coached by Kevin Kalish.

Players

Current roster

Notable alumni

1950s–1980s

  • Mike Shanahan (1960) — Played on 1959 and 1960 championship teams
  • Carl Gentile (1965) — Played with the St. Louis Stars of the North American Soccer League; earned 6 caps with the U.S. national team
  • Pat McBride (1967) — Played 10 seasons with the St. Louis Stars of the North American Soccer League; earned 5 caps with the U.S. national team
  • Al Trost (1970) — Played with the St. Louis Stars and other teams in the North American Soccer League; earned 14 caps with the U.S. national team
  • Pat Leahy (1972) — Played on three of the school's national championship soccer teams; placekicker for the NFL's New York Jets from 1974 to 1992 & Jets' all-time leading scorer
  • Joe Clarke (1975) — Played professional soccer for 7 seasons, including stints with NASL's St. Louis Stars and MISL's St. Louis Steamers
  • Jim Kavanaugh (1985) — Played in the Major Indoor Soccer League; co-founder and CEO of World Wide Technology.

1990s–present

  • Mike Sorber (1992) — 67 caps playing for the U.S. national team; played 7 professional seasons from 1994 to 2000 in Mexico and then in MLS

  • Brian McBride (1993) — scored 30 goals for the U.S. national team; played several seasons in the English Premier League

  • Shane Battelle (1993) — played 3 professional seasons from 1994 to 1996

  • Matt McKeon (1995) — played 7 seasons in MLS; 2 caps with the U.S. national team

  • Brad Davis (2001) — currently plays for Houston Dynamo; 17 caps with the U.S. national team

  • Dipsy Selolwane (2001) — played 4 seasons in MLS; played for the Botswana national team

  • Jack Jewsbury (2002) — has played in MLS since 2003; last played for the Portland Timbers in 2016.

  • Vedad Ibišević (2003) — played in the German Bundesliga for various clubs from 2006 to 2020; played for Bosnia at the 2014 World Cup

  • Will John (2004) — played 3 seasons in MLS before moving to play in Europe

  • Tim Ward (2004) — played 8 seasons in MLS

  • Martin Hutton (2004) — 2 seasons in MLS from 2005 to 2006

  • John DiRaimondo (2006) — played 3 seasons in MLS from 2007 to 2009

  • Brandon Barklage (2008) — played 7 seasons in MLS from 2009 to 2015

  • Dado Hamzagić (2008) — played professionally two seasons in Bosnia from 2009 to 2011

  • Tim Ream (2009) — several professional seasons in MLS and in England; 50 U.S. national team caps, including every minute of the team's four games in the 2022 FIFA World Cup

  • Chad Vandegriffe (2012) — played professionally in USL, MISL, and MASL

  • Chase Niece (2022) who last played for North Texas SC. Who currently a free agent.

  • Kipp Keller (2022) played for Minnesota United in MLS.

  • Isaiah Parker (2022) who last played for FC Dallas. Who currently a free agent.

  • John Klein III (2023) – played for Charleston Battery in USL Championship..

  • Max Floriani (2024) – played for San Jose Earthquakes in MLS.

Note: The number in parentheses indicates the year the player graduated from SLU; for those who didn't graduate from SLU, the number indicates the last year they played for SLU.

Coaches

Current staff

Head coaching history

Saint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"DatesSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"NameSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"Notes
1959–1966USA Bob GuelkerWon 5 NCAA championships in 8 seasons.
1967–1982USA Harry KeoughWon 5 NCAA championships in his first 7 seasons.
1983–1996USA Joe Clarke
1997–2000USA Bob Warming
2001–2009USA Dan Donigan
2010–2017USA Mike McGinty
2018–presentUSA Kevin Kalish

Titles

National

Saint Louis Billikensborder=1color= white }}"ChampionshipSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color= white }}"TitlesSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color= white }}"Winning years
NCAA tournament1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973

Conference

Saint Louis Billikensborder=1color= white }}"ConferenceSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color= white }}"ChampionshipSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color= white }}"TitlesSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color= white }}"Winning years
Conference USATournament1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
Regular season1991, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2016, 2021, 2022
Atlantic 10Tournament2009, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2025
Regular season2025

Seasons

Main article: List of Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer seasons

NCAA Dominance: 1959–1974

The following table shows the sixteen-year span from 1959 to 1974 in which SLU won 10 NCAA titles. In the six seasons in which SLU did not win, they finished second three times, reached the semifinals once, reached the quarterfinals once, and reached the round-of-16 once. In all 16 seasons, the NCAA tournament was either won by SLU or by the team that had beaten SLU.

Saint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"Title
No.Saint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"Title
seasonSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"Regular seasonSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"NCAA tourn.Saint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"Total record
119598–1-03–012–1–0
2196011–1-03–014–1–0
319629–0-13–012–0–1
4196310–0-03–013–0–0
5196510–0-04–014–0–0
619675–3-13–113–3–2
719699–0–04–013–0–0
8197010–0-14–014–0–1
9197211–2–34–015–2–3
10197311–2–34–015–2–3

Modern seasons

St. Louis threaten to score against Duquesne, November 2008
St. Louis (in white) vs. Duquesne, November 2008
Saint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"SeasonSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"Overall
recordSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"Conf.
RecordSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"CoachSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"Conf.Saint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"Conf.
RankSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"Conf.
TournamentSaint Louis Billikensborder=1color=#ffffff}}"NCAA tournament
202513–3–85–0–3Kevin KalishA101stChampionsSemifinals
20248–5–84–1–3Kevin KalishA10T-5thRunners-Up1st. round
20238–4–54–1–3Kevin KalishA102ndQuarterfinals
202212–5–36–1–1Kevin KalishA101stChampions2nd. round
202116–1–48–0–0Kevin KalishA101stChampionsQuarterfinals
20209–5–04–2–0Kevin KalishA102ndSemifinals
201910–7–06–2–0Kevin KalishA104thQuarterfinals
20186–4–74–4–0Kevin KalishA106thQuarterfinals
20177–9–14–4–0Mike McGintyA108thQuarterfinals
20167–8–36–2–0Mike McGintyA101stQuarterfinals
20158–7–24–2–2Mike McGintyA103rdQuarterfinals
201414–4–25–1–2Mike McGintyA102ndSemifinals2nd round
201314–5–26–0–2Mike McGintyA101stRunner-Up
201216–5–07–2–0Mike McGintyA101stChampions2nd. round
20116–10–14–5–0Mike McGintyA1010th
20109–7–35–3–0Mike McGintyA105thSemifinals
200912–6–07–2–0DoniganA102ndChampions2nd Round
200812–5–56–3DoniganA104thSemifinals2nd round

References

References

  1. [https://www.slu.edu/news/legends-and-lore/soccer-dynasty.php SLU Legends and Lore: The Billiken Soccer Dynasty] on St. Louis University
  2. https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/04/archives/navy-gains-final-of-ncaa-soccer-beats-st-louis-21army-bows-to.html
  3. "Men's Soccer Div 1 – History (1959-2011)". NCAA.
  4. "Men's Soccer Roster". Saint Louis University.
  5. [http://www.slubillikens.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27200&ATCLID=205258071 "Leahy To Be Enshrined in Missouri Sports Hall of Fame"], SLU Billikens, February 9, 2007.
  6. "Previous Seasons". CBS Interactive.
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