A St. Louis product who was one of the outstanding American players in the North American Soccer League, and also captained the U.S. team in World Cup qualifying.
At St. Louis University, Trost won the Hermann Trophy in both 1969 and 1970, and led the Billikens to the NCAA Championship in both of those years. However, he didn’t turn pro for two years after that, until after the 1972 Olympic Games. Trost was a member of the U.S. team at those Games in Germany, playing in two of the United States’ three games. He also had played in eight of the United States’ 11 Olympic qualifying games, and scored two goals.
Trost, a midfielder, played seven seasons in the NASL, the first five of them with his hometown team, the St. Louis Stars. In all, Trost played 151 NASL games, and scored 38 goals. After playing from 1973 to 1977 for St. Louis, he was with the California Surf in 1978 and the Seattle Sounders in 1979. He was chosen as a second-team NASL all-star twice and honorable mention once.
Trost played 14 games in the U.S. national team between 1971 and 1978, including captaining the United States in its five-game World Cup qualifying series against Mexico and Canada in 1976. His only national team goal produced a 1-0 upset of Poland in 1973.
Inducted in 2006.
