On Monday evening, the UCLA women’s soccer players gathered together with bated breath, only to disperse with a collective sigh of relief.
For the third straight year, the UCLA women’s soccer team secured one of four No. 1 seeds for the 64-team NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championships, this coming after a regular season where it went 17-2-1.
“This past weekend definitely helped us, playing (in Washington) against two strong teams,” coach Jillian Ellis said. “Our conference has done exceptionally well this year … so I think a little bit of it is being rewarded not just for results, but for the strength of our conference.”
Stanford, North Carolina and Florida State round out the remainder of the top seeds. UCLA’s first opponent of the postseason will be Boise State (13-6-4). Friday’s match will mark the first meeting between the two teams.
“I’m excited that we get to play an opponent that we’ve never played before, and that is the game that we’re focused on,” Ellis said.
For the Bruins, the road to the 2009 College Cup presents several challenges. Portland (18-1-0), the No. 2 seed in UCLA’s region, was considered to be in the running for one of the top seeds. There is also the case of San Diego (12-6-2), the same team that played the Bruins to a 1-1 draw earlier in the regular season. In addition, should both UCLA and Stanford get past the first four rounds, they will face each other in the semifinals.
That said, UCLA won’t be looking too far ahead during the postseason, fully aware that a single misstep can prove disastrous, even for a No. 1 team.
“We’re just going to take it day-by-day,” junior midfielder Kylie Wright said. “We’re not going to look past our first game, so we’re just going to prepare and do our best.”
One aspect that will work to UCLA’s advantage is its depth chart. All season long, Ellis has not hesitated to go to her bench early and often, and she intends to keep it that way.
“It really comes down to playing players who are performing,” Ellis said. “We’ve invested in a lot of players with playing time this year, and for this very reason.”