[3][4] Pihlak began playing football as a school pupil in Pelgulinn, but his studies and sporting aspirations were interrupted by his voluntary participation in the Estonian War of Independence, where he served on the armoured train No.

[3] Pihlak made a strong impression during the 1927 FIFA Helsinki tournament and in the April of the following year, while playing for TJK in Riga, he was approached by Karl Kurz with a proposal to join Austria Wien.

[3][5] Pihlak made his unofficial debut for Austria Wien in December 1928 during their tour in Italy.

[3] Pihlak impressed on his official first team debut, scoring two goals in the club's 3–0 victory in the Austrian Cup match against SC Westmark Wien on 20 January 1929.

[6] He retired from football in 1934, after he had been injured in a car accident the previous year, when his truck was hit by an oncoming train at an Ülemiste intersection.