Splash Wins Rough Battle With the Warthogs : Soccer: Crowd of 4,368 watch TV actor Shue get in, take a few kicks in Anaheim’s 6-3 victory.

Those who played with Andrew Shue previously said he was scrappy, that he wasn’t afraid to mix it up.

Shue himself said he was an emotional player.

And Shue, the “Melrose Place” star playing the first of two games for the Splash, was in the middle of a scrap Tuesday night in a 6-3 victory over the Washington Warthogs in front of 4,368 at The Pond of Anaheim.

Washington’s Troy Snyder kicked Shue in the chest after the two had tumbled to the turf. Tempers flared on both sides as teammates rushed in.

“I hit the guy good when I went up for the header,” said Shue, who played at Dartmouth. “I think I fouled him on the play and he responded a little hard and it was a little scuffle. It was no big deal.”

Denis Hamlett was the first at Shue’s side and helped prevent Shue from getting any more involved.

Goran Hunjak, the Warthogs’ leading scorer, drew a red card and Washington Coach Jim Gabarra and both benches drew yellow cards. Shue found himself in the penalty box.

With each team a man down, the Splash scored with one second left on the penalty, making it 5-1 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.

Shortly after, Shue was tackled hard by Eric Eichmann, who had served the Warthog penalty, when Shue was on the receiving end of a breakaway.

Fernandez said it appeared the Warthogs were taking their shots at the celebrity midfielder.

“They were picking on him,” Fernandez said. “They were saying, ‘We’ve got a big star here’ and it was getting to the point where somebody was going to try to do him. They were getting kind of physical with him.”

Although Shue was the most notable newcomer, it was the play of Juan Carlos Sanchez that was more instrumental.

Sanchez filled in for forward Rod Castro (30 points), who announced after Tuesday’s morning practice that he would be unable to play because of the flu.

“The substitutes have to step up because you don’t know what someone is going to give you,” said defender Ralph Black. “These are the games we have to win.”

Dale Ervine, Doug Neely and Raffaele Ruotolo each had a goal and two assists.

Black, Shane Hickson and Armando Valdivia also scored as the Splash tallied five consecutive goals.

Anaheim plays host to Arizona on Thursday.