No. 1 seed UCLA women’s soccer to mount NCAA title defense

It didn’t take long for the announcement to come.

It took even less time for the UCLA women’s soccer team to react.

The cries of disbelief that pervaded Barney’s Beanery in Westwood last year were a thing of the past, now replaced by an outburst of joy and cheers in response to the announcement that the Bruins would be going into the 2014 NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.

As the top seed, the Bruins were the first team announced on the 64-team bracket and found out almost instantly after the 1:30 p.m. start time while watching the announcements once again at Barney’s.

It was nothing like last year, when the Bruins were shocked to find out midway through the announcements that they wouldn’t be awarded one of four No. 1 seeds despite winning the Pac-12 championship and ending the regular season as the No. 2-ranked team in the country.

While there might have been controversy surrounding UCLA’s seeding in last year’s tournament, this year’s team getting the No. 1 overall seed seemed almost like a foregone conclusion even before Monday’s announcements, after the Bruins completed an unbeaten run that saw them top the national rankings for all 13 weeks of the regular season.

“Not to say we weren’t expecting it, but we were hoping to get it,” said senior midfielder Sarah Killion. “I think we worked hard all year, and obviously our record and both offensively and defensively we deserved it.”

There will be some familiar faces joining UCLA (18-0-2, 10-0-1 Pac-12), as three teams that the Bruins managed to beat 2-0 over the season – San Diego, USC and No. 4 seed Pepperdine – were drawn in the same side of the bracket.

Rounding off the list is Arizona State, one of only two teams to play UCLA to a draw this year.

UCLA and No. 3 seed Kentucky were drawn in the same bracket for the third straight year. In the two teams’ previous encounters, the Bruins were able to beat the Wildcats 3-0 and 5-0.

The No. 2 seed was awarded to Atlantic Coast Conference runner-up Virginia, which sets up a potential 2013 College Cup semifinal rematch at Drake Stadium if both teams manage to make it to the Elite Eight in the next three weeks.

“Both teams play the same style of play, and we’re both strong in attack and defense in all positions,” said senior defender Caprice Dydasco. “In a way, Virginia is going to want revenge from last year. (Us) winning in shootouts was probably very hard for them. It’s going to be a tough road for us to get to the Final Four again.”

In the meantime, coach Amanda Cromwell said she will pinpoint certain aspects of the tournament bracket that might suggest there isn’t always parity even if you’re awarded the No. 1 seed to light a fire under the team and prevent them from falling into the trap of complacency.

“You still look at the draw, and I’ll point out things that I’ll use to our advantage and show maybe why we weren’t respected in certain elements,” Cromwell said. “We always use that stuff to use get them motivated.”

Injury update

Freshman goalkeeper Siri Ervik was carted off the North Athletic Field at the end of Monday’s practice after sustaining a knee injury. Cromwell said the team is still awaiting news on when the backup goalkeeper will be able to join her teammates in their defense of a national championship.