On Monday, the UCLA men’s soccer team learned that it was seeded No. 6 in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Considering the season that the Bruins had, UCLA had a strong case for receiving a top-four seed, which would guarantee them home-field advantage until the semifinals of the tournament.
The Bruins not only finished the season ranked in the top 10 nationally, they won the Pac-10 for a second season in a row in impressive fashion, losing only one conference game.
The Pac-10 runner-up, Oregon State University, lost four times in conference.
“It’s up for debate,” UCLA coach Jorge Salcedo said after learning of the Bruins’ seeding.
“The ACC schools, obviously their conference is most likely the top conference again this year, and it’s difficult to pass what they do in terms of strength of schedule, so yeah, it’s up for debate.”
Since the Bruins are seeded No. 6, they are only guaranteed the home field until the third round.
How important is home-field advantage for UCLA?
The Bruins finished the season with a record of 10-3-4, but all three of their shut-out losses came on the road. .
Regardless of the Bruins’ apparent road struggles, Salcedo feels that his team gained valuable game experience in each of UCLA’s away matches this season.
“We had a tough road schedule,” Salcedo said.
“Playing up at Maryland the first game of the year, playing up at Cal, and playing at different places. We feel like we’re battle-tested.”
Despite their slight misfortune, Salcedo is satisfied that the Bruins cracked the top-eight seeds and gave themselves a chance to play at home earlier in the tournament.
“We’re excited that we’re a top-eight seed,” Salcedo said. “Your goal every year is to get a high seed in the tournament, so we achieved that. We have the opportunity to have some home games, and we’re going to be very focused on the game on Sunday whoever we play.”
On Sunday, UCLA will host the winner of the game between Sacramento State and Loyola Marymount, who will play their first-round match on Thursday.
“(Sacramento) State and LMU both are good teams who’ve done well this year,” Salcedo said.
“In men’s soccer, there isn’t an opponent you look at and say, “˜Thank goodness we have them.’ We know that no matter who we play, it’s going to be a battle.”