A few seconds after the Webster University women’s soccer team beat Monmouth College (Ill.) on Sunday, Sept. 9, junior captains Ally Nikolaus and Katie Aubuchon snuck up on coach Luigi Scire and doused him in ice water.
“It was pretty cool,” Scire said.
Cool in more than one way. Scire, who shook off the chill of the ice water with a smile and plenty of hugs from players, parents and family members, earned his 200th career victory in the Gorloks’ 3-0 win at St. Louis Soccer Park.
Scire got to celebrate the milestone victory in style. During a postgame ceremony, Director of Athletics Tom Hart congratulated Scire with a cake and sophomore Amy Schield gave Scire a plaque commemorating win No. 200.
Scire proceeded to give a speech, and he thanked everyone who made 200 wins possible. He thanked Webster’s administration, his current and former players and coaches, his wife, Tina, and several others.
“It’s a milestone that we all should be proud of,” Scire said. “It’s not an individual thing. If we don’t have 130 student athletes come into the program who wanted to succeed, I don’t think we would have gotten to this 200 number as quickly as we did. … It’s the 130 student athletes, the coaching staff (and) the administration that should share in this milestone.”
Scire captured his 200th collegiate victory — all of which have come at Webster — in his 14th season at the helm of the women’s soccer program. Scire established the program in 1999 and has a career record of 200-59-11. None of Scire’s teams have finished a season with a record below .500.
Scire’s record in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games is 115-12-2, a win percentage of .899. His teams have won eight SLIAC championships, and Scire has been named SLIAC Coach of the Year five times.
Associate head coach Mike Hutchison, who has been coaching under Scire since 1999, said Scire’s passion for the game and the program is evident, and that passion has propelled him to 200 wins.
“It consumes him. We’ll come to the game yesterday (a 1-0 win over Elmhurst College on Saturday, Sept. 8), and he said he woke up at 4 in the morning and was tossing and turning and thinking about different things — matchups, just worried about the health of some of the players,” Hutchison said.
“It’s more than a hobby,” Hutchison added. “It is a passion, and it’s definitely more than a job. It’s something that does consume you because you want the best. You want to make sure you’re doing the best for your players and for the program.”
Scire is the fourth Webster coach to make the 200-win plateau. Former coach Craig Walston (263 wins) and active coaches Merry Graf (240 wins) and Marty Todt (228 wins) are the others. Baseball coach Bill Kurich has 193 career victories.
“It’s an accumulation of individuals that made this happen — a great coaching staff, great players and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win,” Scire said. “You need an accumulation of people for this to happen, and I’ve been extremely grateful and very proud of who those individuals have been that I’ve been associated with.
“It goes beyond me.”
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