ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis area’s biggest college soccer rivalry took to the field of CITYPARK Sunday. Both the womens and mens teams of Saint Louis University and SIU-Edwardsville met for the annual Bronze Boot clash, now a doubleheader event.
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The Bronze Boot game started on the men’s side, and was held at Busch Stadium II between 1972-1986. The 1980 edition drew just over 22,500 people, and is still considered the largest crowd in NCAA soccer history.
In fact, three of the largest crowds in NCAA history are Bronze Boot games at old Busch Stadium. On Sunday, an estimated crowd of around 5,000 took in the doubleheader and the gorgeous late-summer weather.
The women’s game to open festivities saw the nationally-ranked Billiken women run away in the second half, taking a 6-1 victory. Leading SLU scorer on the season Emily Gaebe opened the scoring in the first half and added a second during the Billikens’ five-goal second half.
Gaebe added an assist two minutes after her second goal, finding Julia Simon for the third SLU goal. Hannah Larson, Emily Fox and Julie Schwartz also found the scoresheet in the second half for the Billikens.
SLU created numerous chances throughout the game, outshooting SIUE 19-7 in total shots and 9-4 in shots on goal. MaryClair Imig was on target for the Cougars. Imig, a freshman and St. Louis native, scored her second goal of the young season.
SLU women’s soccer head coach Katie Shields talked after the game about how important playing this game at CITYPARK means for her team.
“We have such a St. Louis roster that it’s so special,” said Shields. “Hannah Larson yesterday came out on the field yesterday and just laid on the grass. I think for all of them, they come to the (St. Louis) City games, and I don’t know that there’s a better stadium in the country. So to just have the chance to play here, I told them to give this field a performance worthy of the stadium.“
While Sunday was a big day for the SLU women, it’s all eyes forward to a big ranked matchup with #15 Xavier this week.
“We play Xavier this week and they’re top 25,” said Katie Shields. “They’re probably one of the best two teams we’ve played yet, and it’s a tough place to play. We’re gonna have to be our best selves for that.”
The SIUE women will head to Carbondale Thursday for a battle of the SIUs with the Salukis.
After the conclusion of the women’s game, the men's teams took the field at CITYPARK for warmups before the start of their Bronze Boot clash, with the historic Bronze Boot trophy sitting on a table at midfield, awaiting this year’s winner.The SIUE men backed up last year’s Bronze Boot win by upsetting the #19-ranked Billikens for a second straight year, winning 1-0 on Sunday. It’s the first time since 1979-1980 that the Cougars have won back-to-back Bronze Boot games.
SLU was able to create more chances and hold more possession throughout the affair. But a penalty awarded to SIUE saw Yasha Schaerer step up in the 68th minute to convert from the spot for the game’s only goal.
Cougars senior, and usual penalty taker Nacho Abeal was judged to have been fouled as he ran into the box along the endline. SIUE head coach Cale Wasserman wanted to give Abeal a second to rest following the foul, which gave penalty duty to Schaerer, and the Swiss sophomore made no mistake.
“I wanted to be fair to Yasha (Schaerer), he was buzzing tonight,” said Cale Wasserman on the penalty. “I wanted to give him that opportunity.
The Cougar goal came under siege after they took the lead, with the Billiken men piling on pressure and piling on shots. The four shots that found the target were all parried away by shot-stopper Rob Gjelaj, recording his first victory for SIUE.
“I thought today was about balance, we haven’t been very good in possession,” said Cale Wasserman. “I thought we really settled the game down in possession and took their rhythm away. We matched intensity and grit and guys like Rob Gjelaj making a big punch in the final 20 seconds, those are big moments of grittiness and intensity that need to be paired with quality.”
Wasserman also talked about what it means to win these games at CITYPARK, in a rivalry that’s been rejuvenated in recent years.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for our players, but also for the crowd and the youth players, the local kids to be able to get in the stadium and have such a fun time,” Wasserman explained. “We’re very grateful and hopefully we put on a good show for everybody.”
Most importantly, the Bronze Boot is heading back to the east side of the Mississippi river until 2025.
“We’ve got 364 more days with the trophy, and we’re gonna have to fight tooth and nail to keep it,” Wasserman said after celebrating with his team. “Really respect SLU and their staff, it’s been a battle. This is the sixth iteration of this for me and every year has been a close game regardless of scoreline. It’s always going to be a tough battle against those guys.”
The Cougar men look to carry the momentum of capturing the Bronze Boot into their game at Memphis on Thursday evening. The SLU men head west to Oregon to take on Portland on Friday.
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