Soccer players simply aren't supposed to be able to adjust from the outdoor game to indoors as quickly as new Attack forward Nebojsa Vucicevic.

While the basic principles of kicking a ball into a goal are the same, the United States version of indoor soccer is unique in its angles, tight spaces and quick energy bursts as opposed to the endurance test that is the outdoor game.

In fact, many great players have tried to make the jump from outdoors to indoors without success. Most recently with the Attack, a couple of Vucicevic's countrymen from Yugoslavia, Milos Bursac and Milko Djurovski, came to Kansas City, tried the game for a few weeks and then returned home.

Vucicevic, whose soccer nickname is "Ushke," joined the Attack in late February and immediately looked at home on the artificial turf.

Want proof? Playing in the Attack's final eight games of the regular season, Vucicevic had at least one goal in every game, and he finished with 11 two-point goals for 22 points. Prorating that total over a full 40-game NPSL season comes to 110 points. The Attack's leading scorer during the regular season was Brian Loftin, who had 85 points.

"I played a different version of indoor soccer in Yugoslavia," Vucicevic said through a translator, fellow Yugoslav Scoop Stanisic. "I always liked indoor soccer. I feel my techniques and abilities are well-suited for the indoor game.

"I feel a goal a game, if you play on top (as a forward), that should be the least I can do."

Vucicevic should be a valuable asset to the Attack now that the playoffs are here. Except for the first game, at 8:05 tonight in Edmonton, Alberta, that is. When the Attack takes on the Edmonton Drillers in game one of their best-of-three first-round series, Vucicevic will be back in Kansas City. He and defender Samuel Ekeme were unable to obtain the necessary work visas to be able to enter Canada.

"I'm sorry I can't go, but it's out of my control," Vucicevic said. "I wish I could play every game."

The break actually could help Vucicevic down the road. What makes his performance for the Attack even more remarkable is that he's been playing on a bum ankle that he injured before he left Yugoslavia. By not playing until Sunday, when the Attack plays host to the Drillers at 3:05 p.m. in game two at Kemper Arena, the ankle will have a chance to heal.

"When I got here, I thought I was going to be an assist man," he said. "Because of my ankle difficulties, I can't cut the ball or kick it well. I'm just trying to be a presence in the box.

"If (the ankle) is 80 percent in the next five or six days, it'll still be better than the 50 percent it is right now."

Vucicevic said boldly that if he comes back to the Attack next season healthy and with a preseason of conditioning, he'll be a 120-point scorer in the NPSL.

Others thought that statement might not be so bold after all.

"I think if he goes through a preseason and get himself indoor fit, he'll score a lot more than that," Stanisic said. "I think he'll be a major force in the league next year."

Attack coach Jim Schwab said: "The guy probably has 40 touches on the ball, and he has 11 goals. He's only missed two chances I can remember. Wipe out the ankle injury and add full-time conditioning, he could be a 100-150-point scorer easily.

"We'll miss him (tonight). But on the plus side, we'll have him fresh on Sunday."