On a day in which most West Coast teams seethed at the
announcement of the NCAA tournament pairings, the UCLA
women’s soccer team was pleasantly surprised by its draw.
The Bruins, who received the No. 14 seed in the tournament, will
host two games this weekend at Drake Stadium, beginning with a
first-round matchup with Pepperdine on Friday afternoon. If UCLA
defeats the Waves, it will host either UNLV or San Diego in the
second round on Sunday.
“People that have seen us play well probably think of us
as a contender, and people that have seen us play poorly probably
think we don’t deserve our seed,” coach Jill Ellis
said. “But at the end of the day, we’re pretty pleased
with where we ended up.”
UCLA (13-6), one of five Pac-10 teams to receive an NCAA berth,
is one of the few West Coast teams that appears to be satisfied
with its draw. Both Arizona and Washington received top-16 seeds,
but will have to travel across the country to play their first- and
second-round games.
Western powers Santa Clara, Stanford and California each were
placed in the same section of the bracket, with the winner likely
to earn a third-round meeting with top-ranked North Carolina.
“The luck went in our direction this year,” Bruin
senior Kim Devine said. “It was a well-deserved seed.
We’re pretty happy with our draw.”
A fixture in the top 10 most of this season, UCLA may have been
in danger of not being a host team had it not eked out a 3-2
victory at USC on Sunday. The Bruins, who are making their eighth
consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, have the most losses among
any of the top-16 seeds, but played one of the toughest
non-conference schedules in the nation.
UCLA played eight nationally ranked opponents in the regular
season, compiling a 6-2 record against them.
“The selection committee looked at our strength of
schedule and saw that we put ourselves out there,” Ellis
said. “We played one of the toughest three schedules in the
country, and it paid off.”
Of the three teams that will play at Drake Stadium this weekend,
two of them should be very familiar with the Bruins. UCLA routed
San Diego 4-0 in late-August and shut out Pepperdine 1-0 a few
weeks later.
The Waves (9-6-3) have been sent to Westwood in the playoffs
each of the past two seasons, falling to UCLA in the second round
2-0 last November.
“Playing Pepperdine is tough because we know each other
extremely well,” Ellis said.
“We didn’t play particularly well in our game here,
and they had a great game so it was very close. They probably have
some confidence, and feel like they have something to
prove.”
The highest-seeded team in UCLA’s quarter of the draw is
No. 3 Virginia, a potential third-round opponent for the
Bruins.
The Cavaliers, who defeated North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast
Conference Tournament finals this past weekend, won their only
matchup with the Bruins this season 3-1 in September.
“If Virginia does come along, we’ll be ready to play
them,” Devine said. “We’ve seen them before, and
we’ll be prepared.”
Before UCLA can worry about Virginia, it will have to survive
the weekend first. The Bruins, who lost to North Carolina in the
College Cup last season, have advanced to at least the third round
each of the past four seasons.
“If I’m an opponent, I wouldn’t want to pull
UCLA,” Ellis said. “We’ve been hot and cold. But
if we’re hot, I think we’re one of the best teams in
the country.”