If St Louis had built Energizer Park as an indoor venue, then Marcel Hartel’s worldie would have surely blown the roof right off.
After shocking MLS in their 2023 debut by winning the West, St Louis have struggled for consistency. 2025 was a necessary transition year; the club parted with initial chief soccer officer Lutz Pfannenstiel after his most recent coaching appointment, Olof Mellberg, was sacked after just 15 games. Corey Wray was named as Pfannenstiel replacement in early November to top the sporting department, with the Thunder Bay native installing Yoann Damet as head coach soon afterwards.
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It took St Louis five games to find a win this season, one of three teams in the league to go winless in the opening four matchweeks. Finally, the Wray and Damet era found its first three-pointer with New England visiting. St Louis held a 2-1 lead in the 83rd minute, when Hartel pounced on a poor pass by Brayan Ceballos. Rather than attempting to wind down the clock, Hartel sent St Louis into rapture with an audacious chip over Matt Turner.
The win was a feelgood moment not just for the club’s new leadership, but for the locker room altogether. Before kickoff, the stadium paid tribute to Ilona Löwen, the wife of City midfielder Eduard, who passed away on 9 March from cancer. The players and coaches donned black armbands bearing her initials, while some fans wore gray in a coordinated show of support.
“It’s been emotional, to say the least,” Damet said afterwards, “but at the same time, I think the guys, what they wanted to do is to show those values that we embody as a team, for him.”
Damet also saw plenty of positives on the field, especially in midfield. Chris Durkin and winter acquisition Daniel Edelman offer a promising all-American engine room, two former US youth internationals whose boyhood teams (DC United and Red Bull New York, respectively) hadn’t entrusted them with as much on-ball responsibility. While one win in five won’t get St Louis back in the playoffs, the early returns of their new partnership make it easier to project brighter days lay ahead.
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In the meantime, a few more golazos like Hartel’s won’t hurt.
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Bamba buries Union
A 30-team league offers so many storylines that it’s rare to concentrate on a single trend. But when a Supporters’ Shield winner begins their defense in unprecedentedly poor fashion, as the Philadelphia Union have, it’s impossible to ignore.
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