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GREENSBORO -- In the 17th annual East-West All-Star girls soccer game, the West repeated its winning effort from a year ago, beating the East 1-0 at the UNCG Soccer Stadium Tuesday night.

Lena Suarez of Hopewell High School was named the game's MVP after scoring the game's only goal.

The East was aggressive early, taking two shots on goal in the first two minutes. But the West took an early lead in the fifth minute.

Suarez took a shot inside the penalty area that bounced past an outstretched Kimberly Kern into the far right side of the net for a 1-0 lead.

"I'd say it was kind of lucky," Suarez said. "It hit the post and bounced in."

The East, though controlling possession for much of the first half, simply failed to get the ball into the net. Despite the East's 11 first-half shots, East Forsyth's Kristin Alderin-Fleagle and Watauga's Sarah Caldwell did a solid job of goalkeeping for the West, as the tandem recorded five saves apiece.

"At first, I was kind of nervous," said Alderin-Fleagle, who was an All-Area first-team selection. "I knew the East team was really good. Once I got out there, I just relaxed and I was ready to play. "

The East had a number of opportunities to score, most notably in the 16th minute, when Alisia Gustafson's blast toward the left corner was secured by Alderin-Fleagle's diving save. Eleven minutes later, Nicole Danford's shot from the right side of the goal bounced off the left goalpost, keeping the East scoreless.

The East continued to push the tempo in the second half, trying relentlessly to even the score. However, the West stayed on its toes defensively, thwarting the East's many efforts.

In the final 10 minutes, the West All-Stars played a strict defensive strategy. With a one-goal lead for much of the game, the team seemed to be more concerned with stopping the East from scoring than it was with adding to the lead. The West kept a majority of its players in front of its goalie in an attempt to shut down the East.

"The last 10 minutes, we played more defense because they pushed more players up, so we had to go back and defend them," Suarez said.

The East kept trying but couldn't manage to get a goal. It pushed the ball frantically up field at every chance it had and ended up taking 13 total shots on goal.

The game was physical, and the referees seemed content in letting the girls play aggressively. In the 80 minutes of play, only two fouls were called.

"Everybody we played with was really good," said Alderin-Fleagle, who will be attending Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C. "In college, that's probably how it's going to be. It prepared me."

Contact Joel Brown at 373-7091 or joel.brown@news-record.com

Goals: West - Lena Suarez; Shots: East 18, West 12; Saves: East 7 (Kimberly Kern 7), West 13 (Kristin Alderin-Fleagle 5, Sarah Caldwell 7, Team 1); Corner kicks: East 5, West 2.