Rudy Pikuzinski (born August 9, 1959) is a former U.S. soccer

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who spent most of his career playing indoor soccer. He was a three time

American Indoor Soccer Association American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and served as an assistant coach his last year as a player.

Youth

Pikuzinski, and his brother

Randy Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of th ...

, grew up in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

where they learned to play from their father. Pikuzinski attended Bishop Turner High School and

The Park School The Park School is an independent day school in Brookline, Massachusetts, for boys and girls in Pre-Kindergarten through eighth grade. Founded in 1888 as Miss Pierce's School, it is a 34-acre campus in Brookline, Massachusetts near Jamaica Pond. ...

, playing soccer at both. Pikuzinski set the single season scoring record at The Park School. He also played with the White Eagles of the Western New York Premier Soccer League, winning four championships.

Professional

Pikuzinski played in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

in 1977 with the

Buffalo Blazers Buffalo Blazers was a soccer team in Buffalo, New York. They competed in the National Soccer League in 1976–1978 and 1980. They were one of only four American teams (Detroit Besa, Detroit Canadians, and Detroit Vardar) to have competed in the N ...

. In 1983, the

Buffalo Stallions The Buffalo Stallions were a soccer team based out of Buffalo, New York, that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1979 to 1984. Their home arena was Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. It was the last professional club for which the Portugues ...

of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) drafted Pikuzinski. He played one season with them, but when the Stallions folded at the end of the 1983-1984 season, Pikuzinski moved to the

Buffalo Storm Buffalo Storm were an American professional soccer team. They played for one season (1984) in the USL, with home games at All-High Stadium. Players * Rudy Pikuzinski 1983-84 * Otto Orf 1984 * Carlos Salguero 1984 * Ernesto Buriano 1984 * Oscar Pi ...

of the outdoor

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. The Storm folded in 1984 and Pikuzinski signed with the expansion

Canton Invaders The Canton Invaders was an indoor soccer club based in Canton, Ohio that competed in the National Professional Soccer League. After the 1995–96 season, the team relocated and became the Columbus Invaders. History The Canton Invaders were a pro ...

of the newly established

(AISA). Pikuzinski took a back seat to team leading scorer

Kia Zolgharnain Kia Zolgharnain (born November 10, 1965) is an Iranian-American soccer coach and former player who is the current head coach and technical director of Akron City FC. As a player, Zolgharnain was a forward who led the American Indoor Soccer Assoc ...

his first two seasons with the Invaders as the team took two consecutive AISA championships. In his third season with the Invaders, Pikuzinski became the league’s leading scorer. He was named a first team All Star and league MVP. That season, the Invaders lost in the finals, but won the next three championships as Pikuzinski earned his second and third MVP awards. During the 1987 outdoor season he returned to the National Soccer League to play with

St. Catharines Wolves St. Catharines Roma Wolves (also known as St. Catharines Wolves or simply Roma Wolves), are a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1967. The team currently plays in the semi-professional League1 Ontario in both the men's and women's divisions. The ...

. In 1991, Pikuzinski moved to the

Cleveland Crunch The Cleveland Crunch are an American professional indoor soccer club located in Cleveland, Ohio competing in as a charter member of the Major League Indoor Soccer (MLIS). The rebranded Crunch returned to indoor play as a member of the MASL 2 i ...

of MISL. The Crunch went to the semifinals before falling to the Dallas Sidekicks. In 1992 after the MISL folded, Pikuzinski returned to Buffalo when he signed with the expansion

Buffalo Blizzard The Buffalo Blizzard was a soccer club that existed from 1992 to 2001 in Buffalo, New York. History The team was originally owned by the Knox brothers who owned the Buffalo Sabres at the time, and additionally by the Riches who owned the minor l ...

of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). Pikuzinski remained with the Blizzard through the 1999-2000 season before he retired from playing professionally. During his last season of play, he also served as an assistant coach with the Blizzard. Pikuzinski was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame
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Honors

*MVP: 1987, 1988, 1989 *Leading scorer: 1987, 1988 AISA/NPSL All Time Statistical Leaders #6th in Points- 1224 #5th in Goals- 511 #8th in Assists- 340 Forward for All Time AISA/NPSL Team First Team All Star * 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pikuzinski, Rudy 1959 births Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Buffalo Blizzard players Buffalo Stallions players Buffalo Storm players Canton Invaders players Cleveland Crunch (original MISL) players St. Catharines Roma Wolves players Men's association football forwards Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) coaches National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York Soccer players from New York (state) United Soccer League (1984–85) players Canadian National Soccer League players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada American expatriate sportspeople in Canada