January 24 (1975)

The St. Louis Stars lose 5-3 to the Philadelphia Atoms in their opening game of the Region 1 NASL Indoor Tournament before 3,200 fans at Fair Park Coliseum in Dallas. Although the NASL is an outdoor league, a series of indoor matches against the touring Soviet Red Army team in 1974 drew well. The league experiments further with winter indoor games by staging its NASL Indoor Tournament in 1975. The Stars outshoot the Atoms 25-11, but give up three quick goals in the second period. Gene Geimer and future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famers Pat McBride and Al Trost score for St. Louis. The Stars, led by McBride’s two goals, will defeat Toronto Metros-Croatia 8-4 on Jan. 26 but will fail to advance from their region to the tournament’s final four. The San Jose Earthquakes will win the tournament by beating the Tampa Bay Rowdies 8-5 in the championship game (telecast by CBS on tape delay) on March 16.