Wednesday, November 18, 1998
Team gears up to kick off tournament play
PLAYOFFS: No. 6 Bruins shake off UW loss to open NCAA games at
home
By Scott Street and
Moin Salahuddin
Daily Bruin Contributors
Despite last weekend’s upset loss to Washington, the UCLA men’s
soccer team will begin defending their national championship in
comfortable surroundings.
The sixth-seeded Bruins will open NCAA Tournament play this
Sunday against Fresno State on the North Athletic Field at 1
p.m.
A potential top seed was waiting for UCLA if it ended the season
with victories over Washington and Oregon State. The Bruins,
however, lost to the Huskies and dropped down to rank fifth in the
nation, sixth in the tournament.
Eight teams from the Western Region made the 32-team tournament,
capturing three of the top eight seeds. Among them are the Bruins,
Huskies and Cal State Fullerton Titans.
"I think it’s exciting for West Coast soccer," said UCLA head
coach Sigi Schmid. "For the first time, the West Coast got divided
up into more than one bracket."
"I think this is the most national of all the soccer pairings as
long as I’ve been involved with the NCAA."
For the Bruins, the nation’s top-ranked team until the
Washington loss, the prospect of two home games was
encouraging.
"We’re happy to be at home in the first (two) rounds," Schmid
added. "We can always argue at who should be seeded where, but I’m
just happy to be at home."
Looming in the bottom half of the bracket are the Titans and
South Carolina Gamecocks, who account for two of UCLA’s three
losses this season. The Bruins could meet either of those teams in
the NCAA Semifinals.
"I was actually hoping to play (at) Fullerton in the first round
and (at) South Carolina in the second round," said senior forward
Seth George.
"Ideally, that would have been a lot of fun, but this (draw) is
just perfect."
The Bruins will be looking to repeat their performance from a
year ago when they marched into the NCAA Final Four.
In the 1997 Final Four in Richmond, Va., UCLA defeated Indiana
in triple overtime 1-0 and won the title against the Virginia
Cavaliers 2-0.
"I feel when we play well there isn’t anybody in the country
that we have to fear," said Schmid, who will be seeking his fourth
national title as the UCLA head coach.
"As long as we come out prepared to play and are healthy, I
think we’re a very good team and our chances of going far are
great."
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