Rookie Will Bruin scores a hat track for the Houston Dynamo against D.C. United as the Dynamo win, 4-1. Fellow St. Louisan Brad Davis assists on Bruin’s second and third goals.

St. Louis soccer fans read good news and bad news in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. First, the good news: St. Louis has been chosen as the site of the National Challenge Cup final on May 9. The game to decide the national championship of soccer will match St. Louis’s Ben Millers, comprised entirely of homegrown talent, against the foreign-laden Fore River F.C. of Quincy, Mass.The bad news: Admission will be $1.10 for adults and 55 cents for children, “the highest ever charged here for soccer,” according to the Post-Dispatch.

Daryl Doran is named to the Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame. His 827 professional indoor games played are the most in U.S. history. He scored 419 goals in his indoor career, and coached the St. Louis Ambush to the 1995 NPSL championship.

A heartbreaking finish spoils a dominant performance by the St. Louis Shamrocks in the first game of the finals of the National Challenge Cup (today’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup) against German American FC of Philadelphia. A last-minute goal by the German Americans results in a 2-2 tie. Seeking their fourth consecutive Open Cup title, the Shamrocks will lose the second game and the cup when the German Americans win 3-0 in Philadelphia on May 3.

The Ambush wins St. Louis’s first and only pro soccer national league championship, indoors or outdoors, rebounding from an 11-0 deficit to beat the Harrisburg Heat 14-11 in the fourth and deciding match of the NPSL best-of-seven championship series at the Farm Show Arena in Harrisburg, Pa.

The professional St. Louis League champion Ben Millers, National Challenge Cup finalists of 1926, come from behind to squeak past the Muny League amateur champion Killarneys, 2-1, on a cold, snowy day at St. Louis University Field. Jimmy McCarthy (pictured) scores a goal after earlier missing a penalty kick for Killarney.

The National Challenge Cup (today’s U.S. Open Cup) returns to St. Louis after an 11-year absence, thanks to Stix, Baer & Fuller defeating the New York Americans, 2-1, at Starlight Park in the Bronx. Willie McLean (pictured) scores one goal and assists on the other.

Granite City’s Ruben Mendoza (pictured) makes headlines as Kutis defeats the Chicago Eagles, 3-1, in Chicago in the first game of the Western Final of U.S. Amateur Cup. Mendoza scores two goals, then becomes involved in an altercation that leads to a near-riot of players and fans near the end of the match.

Paul Dueker’s stellar performance in goal is not enough as defending U.S. Open Cup champion Kutis loses to Monterrey of Mexico, 1-0, in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup at the Soccer Park.

Kutis earns rave reviews as it beats Hakoah of New York, 3-1, to capture the U.S. Open Cup in a two-game final decided on total goals. Kutis won the first game, 3-0, at Public Schools Stadium in St. Louis on March 31.

The St. Louis Archdiocesan Catholic Youth Council reports that the CYC is fielding 352 soccer teams with 6,620 players in eight age groups. The St. Louis CYC will grow to be the largest soccer organization in the United States by 1966 with 447 teams.

The St. Mathews Saints win the Municipal League soccer championship with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Claxtons before an estimated crowd of 15,000 at Fairground Park (game action pictured). Outside left Bill Kerr scores his second goal of the game near the end of the fourth 8-minute overtime.

Ben Miller of St. Louis loses to Bethlehem Steel, 7-2, in the final of the National Challenge Cup (today’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup) at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, N.Y., before 12,041 fans. Benny Nash (pictured) scores both of Ben Miller’s goals.

The AC St. Louis men’s professional team plays its first game and loses, 2-0, to the Carolina RailHawks in Cary, N.C., before 2,013 fans (pictured: AC head coach Claude Anelka, left. and player-assistant coach Steve Ralston).

Future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Frank Borghi is born. He will be the goalkeeper who will shut out England 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup, one of the biggest upsets in soccer history.

Steve Trittschuh gives the sparse Soccer Park crowd of 3,287 plenty to cheer about as he scores a goal for the United States, and saves a potential goal by Iceland, as the U.S. Men’s National Team prevails 4-1 in a warmup for the 1990 World Cup. The Granite City, Ill., native and former SIU-Edwardsville player opens the scoring with a goal on a header in the 16th minute.

Madison Kennels of St. Louis loses 3-0 to the Hakoah All-Stars of New York at Brooklyn’s Dexter Park in the final of the National Challenge Cup (today’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup). Hakoah had beaten Madison, 2-0, at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis on March 31. Their win on April 7 clinched the best-of-three series and the national championship for Hakoah.

The St. Louis Steamers end the regular season in style. Nebo Bandovic nets three goals and Don Ebert has two, including one just 17 seconds into the game, in a 7-6 win over the Chicago Sting before 8,540 fans at The Arena. Ricky Davis and Duncan MacEwan add the Steamers’ other goals.

The United States Football Association (today’s U.S. Soccer Federation) is formed in New York City, largely through the efforts of former St. Louis resident Tom Cahill (pictured).

Lori Chalupny (pictured) makes a triumphant homecoming with a second-half goal that sparks the U.S. Women’s National Team to a 4-0 win over New Zealand in a World Cup warm-up at Busch Stadium.