Wheaton College Athletics

The 1966 Men’s Soccer team finished the season with 11-0-3 undefeated record under the direction of Coach Bob Baptista. The 1966 team was the third Men’s Soccer team in Wheaton history to finish a season undefeated. They set what were at the time season records for most wins (11) and most goals (50) and shared the Michigan-Illinois-Indiana Collegiate Soccer Conference (MIICSC) championship with Earlham College, a team Wheaton edged 3-2 during the regular season.

A significant event during the season occurred when Wheaton beat Lake Forest, 1-0, or so it seemed. Wheaton coach Bob Baptista did not learn from goalkeeper Bill Bott until after the game that Lake Forest had also scored. The ball, kicked by a wing on a breakaway, went past Bott’s outstretched arms and stopped 50 yards beyond the goal. Play had resumed before the surprised goalie realized that no official had recognized that the ball went through the net. Two spectators behind the net confirmed the goal, and Baptista and the officials found a torn cord near the bottom of the net through which the ball had zipped. Baptista offered that the game should be considered a tie and that is what occurred.

The team went on to win the 1966 NCAA Mideast Regional Tournament, defeating College of Wooster 1-0, and Lake Forest 3-2, in the finals. After the season, Coach Baptista labeled the 1966 soccer season “the most successful in the 35-year history of intercollegiate soccer at Wheaton.”