City SC’s Cedric Teuchert, left, celebrates after scoring as teammate Jannes Horn runs behind him during the first half of a game against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at CityPark.
Jeff Roberson, Associated Press
The night that St. Louis City SC officially eliminated from playoff contention, the team’s optimism may have reached as high as it has all season.
It wasn’t that City SC overcame a worn down Sporting Kansas City side by resting some of their best players in a 3-1 home win that, for the first time this season, gave City SC back-to-back wins. (“It’s a winning streak!” said interim City SC coach John Hackworth) or that she beat her most hated rival.
It is what the new players in the team have brought to the team and the impact they have. Cedric Teuchert, the first arrival of the six players the club added in the summer transfer window, had a goal and two assists. He is the second City SC player this season to have three goal contributions in a game, the other being Marcel Hartel, the team’s new player, who had three assists in his first MLS game. There may be three more games in 2024, but City SC like the way 2025 looks.
“This team has the ability to be a really good team,” Hackworth said, “and then no matter what happened to end this year, I’m pretty sure we’d be a good team next year. These guys are working towards it and exhibiting it against our main rival. So very confident that we will be a good team next year.”
“Not going to the playoffs was tough for us,” Teuchert said, “but I think every week is important for us going into next season. We have a lot of new players. It’s not easy to go straight to the perfect shape. So we train hard and yes, end of the week, we have the game. And celebrating the win, yes, makes it fun.”
“You can see a different football,” said midfielder Edward Loewen, who scored an insurance goal in the 75th minute. “You can see that something is developing. The team was very good. But there are still a lot of things we can improve on, and that’s how we’re trying to approach the next two games as well. We want to win games, every single one of them. But we also want to play really well and get to know each other more and more, improve the things we want and need to improve and then get to the next season.”
Despite the win, City SC was eliminated from playoff contention with Minnesota’s 3-0 win over Colorado, giving Minnesota 45 points while the most City SC can get is 43. City SC is in 12th, three points behind 10th-place Dallas (and three points ahead of 13th-place SKC, who have a game in hand).
While the win belonged to the team, it was made possible by Teuchert. After scoring in the fourth minute of the previous two games, he was kept off the scoreboard until the 33rd minute this time when a shot by Akil Watts, starting in place of the injured Chris Durkin, was blocked and fell just off him.
He settled it with his left foot, then drove it with his right between two defenders and away from goalkeeper John Pulskamp for his fifth goal of the season, which ties him with Klauss and Lowen for the team lead — and it was over . in just seven games. It was the third straight game he scored and fourth in the last five. He also had two goals in the League Cup for seven goals in the last 10 games overall.
He then added two assists, first on a cross to Rasmus Alm for a short-range tap-in that was, statistically, the team’s easiest goal all year. (The goal had an expected goal value of 0.83, the highest for any City SC goal this season, even higher than penalties.) And then, after SKC cut the lead to 2-1, he scored another cross, time for Lowen, who had time to head it in from 18 yards.
“It’s not just the goals and assists he gives the team,” Loewen said, “but tactically, defensively, he’s in great spots. He is someone who knows how to read space very well and I think today his performance was even more outstanding.”
Hackworth had said Thursday that Teuchert, who has been working out with a knee, was 50-50 to play Saturday. The decision came down to the wire.
“Very close (to not playing). Like very close,” Hackworth said. “But he’s tough. He is passionate. He’s a really great teammate. When we went into halftime, I just said, “Are you feeling good?” He says, “You know…” I say, “Well, you can ask me off the field, but you’re not leaving. So you’ll be back out there.’ And for him, it’s like, “Okay. No problem. Coming back out.” Even though it probably hurt a lot.”
After Teuchert scored, his post-goal celebration included a search for Tyler Harris, the team’s director of sports medicine.
“I worked a lot this week with Tyler,” Teuchert said, “so I want to say thank you for having a good game today.”
If Teuchert gritted his teeth to get through the game, Alm felt like he was in heaven. When he scored to make it 2-0, he started by hugging Hartel and Klaus (who had a very good low-key game), then jumped into Teuchert’s arms, smiling the whole time. Alm started the season late due to offseason surgery on a sports hernia and then, after finally returning to the field, strained a knee ligament and missed 15 games.
“With those two years with a lot of injuries, I felt such a relief,” Alm said. “I can’t put it into words. I am sorry.”
“He’s an amazing person,” Hackworth said. “He is an amazing professional. He works so tirelessly for everyone else. To see him get that reward makes everyone smile.”
Joakim Nilsson, who had missed 16 of the previous 17 games with a series of hamstring injuries, came on in the 86th minute for his first start since July 17. Indiana Vassilev is in the concussion protocol and has been ruled out for a game for the first time in City SC history in all competitions. It was the third game he has lost in two seasons.
City SC have two games this week, starting with Los Angeles FC on the road on Wednesday and then Houston in the season finale at CityPark.
