1990 MISL ALL-STAR GAME : How West Won: Flash, Dash : Soccer: Premier offensive players carry West All-Stars to 5-4 victory. Crowd of 10,293 turns out.

SAN DIEGO —  Style and flash got the better of bruise and bash in the 11th Major Indoor Soccer League All-Star game Wednesday night in the San Diego Sports Arena.

The gang from the West showed a lot of finesse and a little bump and grind of its own en route to a 5-4 victory before 10,293.

What can you say?

East Coach Kenny Cooper did his best to put together a team of muggers to combat the tricky feet of the West. He chose Bernie James and Mike Sweeney of the Cleveland Crunch, who, as Socker captain Brian Quinn might have said, will never be confused with finesse players. They like to push people around.

But seriously, a team with an offense of Tatu, Preki and Branko Segota is hard to stop and even harder to top.

So for Cooper it was just another loss to fellow Englishman Ron Newman, the coach of the West who brought Cooper to this country Feb. 19, 1970 to play for his Dallas Tornados. Cooper is now 0-3 against Newman in MISL All-Star games and 0-3 against him in MISL championship series.

“I can’t take credit for that,” said Newman of his most-recent victory over Cooper. “That’s the players. We had so much power.”

Anyway, who says this team from the West can’t play a little defense, too? Kevin Crow of the Sockers has been defender of the year for two seasons running. And Dallas’ Doc Lawson isn’t too bad. He made a bicycle kick in front of the West goal to prevent danger midway through the fourth quarter when the East was closing in.

Perhaps most amazing was Krys Sobieski, the West’s 39-year-old goalie, who picked up the victory. He made 10 saves, many of them while diving like a kid on the beach.

Two of the East’s four goals were on shootouts. When all was said and kicked, the West was just too good.

A chronological look at how the West won:

--7:10 p.m. The players exit the field following warmups. Kids jam against the guard rails that separate players from fans and scream for autographs. Most players wave and run past. A few stop, sign a program or two and head for the locker room.

--7:38. The lights dim. Limos carrying the players roll onto the carpet and the introductions begin.

--7:50. The introductions hit a snag as one of the limos has trouble exiting the carpet. After nearly hitting the wall twice and backing up, it finally makes it. The fans applaud.

--7:58. Kickoff. Front line for the West is Segota, Tatu and Preki, otherwise knows as a goalie’s basic nightmare.

--8:02. Socker defender George Fernandez streaks down the left sidelines, takes a pass from Tatu and sends it whistling into the upper right corner with his left foot to put the West up 1-0 early in the first quarter. The shot looked like a carbon copy of his goal in the Sockers’ 6-4 victory over Tacoma Sunday. Fernandez, making his first all-star appearance, was later chosen the game’s MVP.

“I never thought about being the MVP of the All-Star game,” Fernandez said. “Not in my wildest dreams. I just had a good game, just one of those things.”

--8:09. West defender Fernando Clavijo, a former Socker who plays for the St. Louis Storm, sends a 30-footer into the upper right corner with his left foot. West 2, East 0.

--8:14. Handball is called on West. Shootout awarded. Wichita’s Chico Borja takes it, swerves around West goalie Slobo Ilijevski and scores, making it 2-1. A few minutes later, Borja is called for tripping, giving the West a powerplay. Apparently, Borja didn’t think much of the call. He made a diving gesture with his hands indicating he thought Clavijo took a dive.

--8:28. Early second quarter. Preki, who has already missed an open shot and muffed a pass, shows a dash of his usual magic, sending a 40-footer into the top left corner with his left foot.

--8:40. Socker midfielder Brian Quinn lets the referee know what he thinks of an illegal substitution call against the West. Hard to read lips, but it was something like “Bull Stuff.”

--9:23. Early third quarter. East forward Dale Ervine (Wichita) knocks a pass off the boards with his heel. Defender Bruce Savage is waiting and heads it in. West 3, East 2.

--9:44. Forward Gary Heale (St. Louis) gives the West a bit of breathing room late in the third quarter, sending in a right-footer at the goal mouth off a pass from Fernandez.

--9:45. The West rolls on. Segota picks up his second point of the evening, taking a pass from fellow Yugoslavian and Socker teammate Zoran Karic and sending it in to the right corner. The fans go crazy.

--9:51. Before the fourth quarter begins it is announced that Segota has won the Super Skills competition, which started Tuesday night and was completed at halftime. Segota is presented with a check for $2,500. That’s a good chunk of change for an MISL player.

--10:01. Forward Dale Mitchell (Kansas City) scores the East’s second shootout goal, cutting the West’s lead to 5-3.

--10:19. East midfielder Carl Valentine (Baltimore) scores with 55 seconds remaining to give the West a scare.

--10:21. The scare and the game ends with East forward Jan Goossens (Kansas City) hitting the crossbar as time runs out. Another MISL All-Star Game come and gone.

Socker Notes

Socker owner Ron Fowler said Wednesday that the Sockers have ended trade negotiations with the Tacoma Stars, who have been attempting to trade Dave Hoggan, a midfielder given a 30-day suspension earlier this month by Star Coach Keith Weller. “There were too many uncertainties in the proposal,” Fowler said.