Steve Snow

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Stephen ("Steve") Leonard Snow is a retired U.S. soccer forward, who was a dominant goal scorer at the high school, college and junior national level, but played only two games with the senior United States men's national soccer team.

Snow grew up in Illinois and attended Hoffman Estates High School from 1985 to 1987 where he played soccer. While playing for Hoffman, Snow scored in 49 consecutive games, ranking him first on the Illinois High School Association's list of consecutive matches scored in.

After graduating from high school, Snow attended Indiana University where he played NCAA soccer. As a freshman in 1989, he was the NCAA post-season tournament leading goal scorer with 4 goals and 1 assist. That year the Indiana Hoosiers lost to Santa Clara 1-0 in the semifinals.

Snow left Indiana after his freshman year to pursue a professional career in Belgium where he played for Standard Liège and Boom (1992-1993). He suffered a major knee injury and returned to the U.S. where he played with the Chicago Power of the National Professional Soccer League in the 1994-1995 season before retiring from soccer and opened a pizza parlor on the northside of Indianapolis.^[1]

Snow also starred for the U.S. junior national team in 1988 and 1989. During qualification for the 1989 U-20 World Cup, Snow scored 5 of the team's 11 goals. Then at the championship the next year, he scored 3 goals, including the goal in the team's 1-1 tie with Mali. That year, the U.S. finished fourth, losing its semifinal match to Nigeria 2-1 in overtime, despite yet another Snow goal.

Snow continued his torrid scoring pace with the junior national teams at the 1991 Pan American Games games, where the U.S. won its first gold medal. Snow was the team's leading scorer with 4 goals.

Snow continued his success during qualifications for the 1992 Summer Olympics. He scored 11 goals in 9 games as the U.S. easily qualified for the games. However, for reasons that have never been fully explained, the U.S. coach, Lothar Osiander benched Snow for the team's opening game of the tournament against Italy. The U.S. would lose that game 2-1. Osiander was known to dislike Snow, calling him a "cocky twerp" and accusing him of being egotistical and not a team player.^[2]^[3] However, he played Snow in the next two games, a win and a tie. Snow scored in both games, but the U.S. failed to advance out of group play. Osiander's refusal to play Snow would lead to his being fired as Olympic coach after the games.^[4]

Despite his success at the junior international level, Snow played only two full internationals, one in 1988 and the other in 1989. He scored no goals.