History SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's soccer

1 history

1.1 bob guelker era
1.2 ed huneke era
1.3 kevin kalish era
1.4 interim
1.5 mario sanchez era

history

the bob guelker era

the siue soccer program first entered competition in 1967 under leadership of national soccer hall of fame coach bob guelker. guelker had been hired away st. louis university, had started program, winning 5 ncaa championships in 8 seasons, including first ncaa soccer title in 1959. cougars invited ncaa tournament in guelker s third year @ helm , reached elite 8 next 2 seasons.

when ncaa started second division soccer in 1972, siue moved new division, since other athletic programs in division ii, , number of other college soccer powers made move. team went 11–0–3 season, winning first division ii championship. (of 24 schools in inaugural division ii tournament, siue , 7 others play in division i, 5 others later win division ii championships, , siue & akron later win division crowns.)

after winning division ii title, siue took advantage of ncaa rule in effect allowed division ii schools play 1 sport in division , 1 sport in division iii, , moved division i. in next ten seasons, guelker s cougars invited division tournament every year, advancing 4 college cup semifinals appearances , winning division title in 1979.

toward end of guelker s tenure, scandal in of university s other sports programs brought major reduction of funding sports, , program went period of decline.

guelker headed program until death in february, 1986. in nineteen seasons, first (3–3–0) non-winning one, , compiled record of 216–67–21, fourteen appearances in ncaa tournament (thirteen in division i).

the ed huneke era

coach guelker succeeded former cougar player ed huneke. during huneke s years, program moved division independent membership in short-lived big central soccer conference, being independent, short associate membership in mid-continent conference, , reluctantly stepped down join division ii great lakes valley conference (glvc) in 1996.

during university s twelve years in glvc, huneke s cougars won 6 regular season titles, 4 conference tournaments, , received 7 invitations ncaa division ii tournament, reached division ii college cup semifinals 3 times , national runner-up in 2004.

huneke coached cougars twenty-two seasons, building record of 251–155–34.

the kevin kalish era

from huneke s retirement in 2008 through 2013 season, program led kevin kalish, took both division , competition in missouri valley conference (mvc). during cougars first season (2010) in mvc, finished second in both conference regular season (to creighton) , conference tournament (to bradley).

in 2012, cougars ranked during season first time since 1980s, finished second in mvc in both regular season , conference tournament (both ncaa semifinalist creighton), , narrowly missed returning division tournament first time since 1982. season, kalish named national soccer coaches association of america (nscaa) midwest region coach of year, , staff named missouri valley conference coaching staff of year.

kalish compiled 49–46–14 record in 6 seasons.

on december 6, 2012, announced kevin kalish leaving job allow him spend more time family.

the interim

on december 6, 2013, associate head coach scott donnelly named succeed kevin kalish , become siue s fourth head coach. second year in row, donnelly s incoming players rated 1 of top recruiting classes in country.

on august 10, 2014, announced donnelly had , unexpectedly resigned after being recruited new technical advisor northeast region of united states soccer federation (u.s. soccer). seventh year goalkeepers coach brian jones , first year assistant coach david korn named co-head coaches.

the cougars started 2014 season in frustrating fashion, 5 overtime games in first 6 , record of 0–6–2 after 8 games. entered missouri valley conference play , ran off 4 straight victories. embarrassing loss @ niu followed tie @ nationally ranked louisville , tie @ home eventual mvc champion missouri state. completing regular season @ 5–8–2, cougars entered mvc tournament #2 seed , opening round bye @ bradley. cougars rallied trailing defeat bradley 2-1 in semifinals. then, in school record ninth overtime game of season, cougars downed missouri state 1-0 win siue s first mvc tournament championship , earn spot in ncaa division men s soccer championship first time since 1982 , advanced second round.

athletic director dr. brad hewitt announced on december 5 siue conduct nationwide search new head coach stating, secure best possible leadership maintain , enhance strong academic, athletic , community engagement standards define siue soccer , siue athletics. . david korn remained associate head coach , scott gyllenberg retained assistant coach. brian jones, however, departed become goalkeepers coach of professional saint louis football club of united soccer leagues.

the mario sanchez era

on january 27, 2015 mario sanchez, associate head coach of louisville cardinals introduced new cougars head coach.

in sanchez first season, cougars went 12–4–1 overall , 5–1–0 in mvc, earning first conference title since joining league in 2010. rating percentage index (rpi) of 39 (out of 206 teams), cougars 28th team not receive automatic bid 2015 ncaa division men s soccer championship. since there 24 at-large berths available, siue passed over.

in sanchez second season, cougars won 2016 missouri valley conference men s soccer tournament, team s second title in 3 years, , earned mvc s automatic bid 2016 ncaa division men s soccer championship. cougars tied #13 michigan state 1–1 , advanced second round on penalty kicks 9–8. tied #11 butler 0–0 , advanced third round on penalty kicks 5–4. lost @ #2 wake forest 2–1 in program s first division sweet 16 game since 1982.

on may 9, 2017 siue , saint louis u. (slu) verbally agreed resume soccer rivalry in 2018 , 2019 seasons. annual bronze boot game once premier rivalry game in u.s. college soccer. 1972, 1973, , 1980 games rank 14th, 7th, , 1st largest crowds in ncaa soccer history. “i remember hearing bronze boot;” declared siue coach mario sanchez. “it 1 of college soccer’s biggest games every year. i’m ready happen again. while annual match once played @ busch memorial stadium, 2018 game @ slu s hermann stadium, 2019 meeting moving siue s ralph korte stadium. slu leads series 9–26–1.