 Five Billikens Up for NCAA's 50th Anniversary Team
Oct. 6, 2008 ST. LOUIS - In conjunction with the 50th NCAA Men's Soccer College Cup this fall, the NCAA has announced the ballot for the College Cup 50th Anniversary Team. A total of five Billikens, including three student-athletes and two coaches, are on the 38-member ballot. Fans have the chance to select the 11 best student-athletes and one coach throughout the last 50 years of the championship. Voting, which begins today, will run until 11 a.m. (CT) on Oct. 15. Fans will be able to submit only one vote and may do so by clicking here. Former Billikens on the ballot are players Dan Counce, Pat McBride and Al Trost. Head coaches Bob Guelker and Harry Keough are among six coaches on the ballot. Counce, who is SLU's seventh all-time leading scorer with 112 points (45G, 22A), was a member of the 1970, 1972 and 1973 NCAA Championship teams. In 1973, he was awarded the Hermann Trophy, an honor bestowed upon the nation's most outstanding collegiate player. In 1972, Counce was named the Most Valuable Offensive Player of the NCAA Tournament as the Billikens out-scored their opponents 14-2 in the tournament. McBride was a two-time All-American at SLU and led the Billikens to NCAA titles in 1963 and 1965. He ranks fifth on the Billikens' all-time scoring list with 130 points (46G, 38A), which came in just three seasons (1963-65). He was tabbed the Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the NCAA Tournament in 1965. McBride was elected into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1994. Trost compiled 61 career points (26G, 9A) and won the Hermann Trophy in 1969 and 1970. He also led the Billikens to NCAA Championships in both of those seasons. He was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player following the 1969 NCAA Tournament after SLU out-scored its opponents 12-2 in the tournament. Trost was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2006. Guelker guided the Billikens to a 95-10-5 record in their first eight seasons of existence, building a program that would eventually become the greatest national power collegiate soccer has known. He led SLU to NCAA Championships in 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1965. In addition, Guelker was the head coach at SIU Edwardsville from 1966 to 1983 and claimed NCAA titles in 1972 and 1979. Along with his seven NCAA titles, he posted a 311-76-26 record in 27 years of coaching and was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1980.
Keough also won five NCAA titles with the Billikens. The program's all-time winningest coach, he posted a 213-50-22 all-time record in 16 seasons at SLU. Keough, who earned 17 caps for the United States as a player before turning to coaching, led the Bills to NCAA titles in 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972 and 1973. He was named to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976. The entire list of student-athlete nominees are: Jeff Agoos, Virginia; Amr Aly, Columbia; Armando Betancourt, Indiana; Paul Caligiuri, UCLA; Richard Chinapoo, Long Island; Dan Counce, Saint Louis; Angelo DiBernardo, Indiana; Mike Fisher, Virginia; Brad Friedel, UCLA; Chris Gbandi, Connecticut; John Harkes, Virginia; Thomas Kain, Duke; John Kerr, Duke; Michael King, Fairleigh Dickinson; Dema Kovalenko, Indiana; Jason Kreis, Duke; Alexi Lalas, Rutgers; Brian Maisonneuve, Indiana; Pat McBride, Saint Louis; Tony Meola, Virginia; Joe Morrone, Connecticut; Bruce Murray, Clemson; Glenn Mynernick, Hartwick; Pat Noonan, Indiana; Barry Nix, Columbia; Fred Pereira, Brown; Farrukh Quraishi, SUNY Oneonta; Claudio Reyna, Virginia; Ken Snow, Indiana; Jim Stamatis, Penn State; Al Trost, Saint Louis; and Roy Wegerle, South Florida. All of the coach nominees are: Bruce Arena, Virginia; Robert Guelker, Saint Louis/SIUE; Harry Keough, Saint Louis; Steve Negoesco, San Francisco; Sigi Schmid, UCLA; Jerry Yeagley, Indiana. Members selected to the anniversary team will be honored at the 2008 NCAA Men's College Cup in Frisco, Texas, at Pizza Hut Park on Dec. 12-14. |
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