When it comes to the NCAA Tournament selection committee, one
can never know exactly what to expect in any sport.
Monday’s women’s soccer pairings followed this same
vein as UCLA, the No. 3-ranked team nationally in the polls,
received a mild surprise with a No. 2 seed regionally in the
lower-left section of the bracket.
“As I said the other day, you can never predict and never
know what (the NCAA is) thinking,” coach Jill Ellis said.
“I’m not that surprised.”
UCLA has made it to three consecutive College Cups and is
looking to win the program’s first national championship. The
team will also get the first shot at winning the school’s
100th NCAA title.
North Carolina (21-1-0) was given the top overall seed while
Notre Dame, Santa Clara and Texas were given the other three No. 1
regional seeds. The Bruins are seeded behind the Big 12-champion
Longhorns (17-3-2) and will play host as an opening-round regional
site.
UCLA will open against Nevada-Las Vegas (9-10-3) on Friday,
followed by Cal State Fullerton (11-7-2), who are facing off
against Loyola Marymount (10-2-6). The winners of the two games
will meet Sunday at 1 p.m. in second-round action.
“I’m fine with the seed,” sophomore Christina
DiMartino said. “We’re just going to take it one game
at a time and just go from there. I don’t really mind just
because we’re the underdogs now maybe, trying to fight for
(the national title).”
UCLA will be very familiar with its opening-round opponent as
the Running Rebels are coached by former Bruin assistant Katherine
Mertz.
Mertz assisted Ellis from 2000 to 2004, helping lead the Bruins
to three trips to the College Cup and two national title-game
appearances. Now, in her second year at UNLV, Mertz has led her
team to consecutive Mountain West conference titles and NCAA
Tournament appearances.
“We were laughing when (Mertz) won her conference
tournament,” Ellis said. “She called me and said,
“˜I think we’re going to be playing you guys,’ and
I said, “˜Well, you never know’ and sure enough, she was
right. It’ll be mixed emotions, but on the day, we want to
get the result.”
By virtue of their seeding, the Bruins will be able to host at
least the first three rounds at Drake Stadium before a potential
fourth-round matchup in Austin, Texas.
“We’re home for at least the first three weekends if
we can keep going,” Ellis said. “That’s really
what we were looking for, so I’m pleased.”
UCLA is undefeated at home this season and has won 18
consecutive matches in Westwood. They are also 20-0 combined
all-time against UNLV, LMU and Cal State Fullerton.
Monday’s biggest surprise was the lack of respect afforded
to several West Coast teams. In addition to the Bruins not
receiving a top regional seed, the Pac-10 was delivered several
setbacks.
Oregon (12-6-2), which finished second in the conference, did
not receive its first-ever bid into the tournament. The Ducks had
beaten UCLA last Friday and USC on Sunday.
“I’m feeling bad for Oregon right now,” Ellis
said. “I think they deserved to get in; it’s sad for
our conference.”
Stanford, USC and Cal, which finished third, fourth and sixth in
the Pac-10 respectively, all received bids.
Pepperdine (11-6-3) was dealt the same fate as Oregon. The Waves
had been ranked No. 24 and beat Santa Clara earlier in the year yet
did not receive entry into the tournament.
Defending national champion Portland, which beat the Bruins 4-0
in the title game last year, surprisingly was not among the top-16
seeded teams despite finishing 14-3-3 and being ranked in the top
10 in every poll this season.
Despite the interesting tournament selections handed out by the
NCAA selection committee on Monday, the Bruins will now turn their
attention to the only goal they have had all year ““ winning a
national title, starting with the first round on Friday against
UNLV.
“The results (of the draw) were surprising, but we can
only control what we can control,” Ellis said.
“That’s the way it is every year.”