March 16 (1990)

One-time prolific indoor soccer scorer Stan Terlecki returns to form with a hat trick for the St. Louis Storm in a 7-4 win over the Cleveland Crunch before 5,789 fans at The Arena. Terlecki, who amassed 139 goals in just two seasons with the MISL’s Pittsburgh Spirit from 1981-83, had not played in the MISL for three years until signing with the Storm in December 1989. The 34-year-old Terlecki, a future Indoor Soccer Hall of Famer, had spent the previous three years playing outdoors in his native Poland. His long professional career included 29 appearances and seven goals outdoors for the Polish National Team from 1976-80. He also scored 15 goals outdoors in two NASL seasons with the Golden Bay Earthquakes and the New York Cosmos. The 1989-90 season will be his last in the MISL. He will finish the season with 24 goals in 39 games with the Storm. Terlecki will wrap up his career playing outdoors in Poland, where his last season will be in 1993. Terlecki is probably best remembered in his native Poland for his pro-Western stance at a time when the country was part of the Communist Bloc. Active in Poland’s Solidarity movement, Terlecki drew two suspensions by the Polish Football Association for trying to form a players’ union. He later played an active role in a protest by some members of the Polish National Team in November 1980, and then defied the Polish government by setting up a meeting for the players with Pope John Paul II. The Polish Football Association suspended Terlecki and three other national team players from club and international soccer, prompting him to move to Holland. Spirit coach John Kowalski helped bring him to Pittsburgh in 1981.