WASHINGTON (October 29, 2024) - Fifty years after a phenomenal undefeated season and a NCAA championship, Howard University's 1974 men's soccer team will be honored this weekend during a series of events.
 
Members of the team and its then head coach, Lincoln Phillips, will be on hand for the 1975 team's induction into the Howard University Athletics Hall of Fame Friday (Nov. 1) and for a special dinner, honoring the 1974 team Sunday (Nov. 3). The dinner, headlined by alumni Rock Newman and Shaka Hislop, will take place at the Armour J. Blackburn Center Ballroom from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
 
Howard's storied soccer program gained renewed prominence in 2016 when the documentary "Redemption Song" was released. The short film told the story of the University's 1971 championship team - the first such team from a Historically Black college or University (HBCU) to win an NCAA national championship. Not long after the history-making feat, the title was revoked by the NCAA due to player eligibility violations. Despite the setback and the sanctions imposed on the team, Coach Phillips managed to keep the program on track, winning it all again in 1974 with a perfect 19-0 record - an accomplishment that has never been matched by another college team.
 
"To win a championship was one thing, but to do it without losing a game is something pretty amazing," said Phillips, who coached the Bison from 1970 to 1980. "It's an accomplishment that has never been equaled and, for that, I am both humbled and immensely proud."
 
Phillips, who came to the United States from Trinidad & Tobago in 1968, credits the Bison teams from the 1970s with helping to raise awareness of the sport in communities through the District of Columbia. In addition to the highly competitive play on the field, the players were available for young people to meet during clinics Phillips planned to help youth become more familiar with soccer.
 
"Back then, soccer was really a minor sport, but now, it has grown so much and so many people, including Black people, appreciate the game," Phillips said. "What we were doing back in the 1970s was really setting the groundwork for the game to become what it is for our people."
 
Under Phillips' leadership, the 1974 team was a true force, sweeping through its regular season, outscoring opponents 63-6 before handling George Washington, Clemson and Philadelphia universities in the NCAA Tournament en route to its contest with St. Louis University. The match, played on December 7, 1974, was a rematch of the 1971 championship in which Howard defeated St. Louis, 3-2, but had its national title stripped for using ineligible players. The 1974 match, a 2-1 victory for Howard, came in a four- overtime thriller.
 
The 1974 team was truly on a redemption tour, according to Phillips, who led the University's legal challenge against the NCAA's sanctions, a challenge that resulted in a partial ruling that the NCAA's stance regarding foreign students' eligibility was discriminatory but did not restore Howard's 1971 title.
 
"I look back on that time and I felt then what I feel now, truth crushed to earth shall rise again," Phillips said. "We knew following the 1971 season that we were the rightful champions and we fought to reclaim what was rightfully ours. That 1974 season – an undefeated season – was a true testament to claiming our rightful place in history."
 
For more information visit the official Howard Athletics website www.hubison.com.