UCLA secures 18th straight championship appearance with at-large bid

By Brian Thompson
Daily Bruin Reporter

For all of those wondering where that collective sigh of relief
heard around campus came from Monday afternoon, look no further
than the J.D. Morgan Center.

That sigh came from a conference room where the UCLA men’s
soccer team learned that its season has been prolonged. For the
18th consecutive year, the team has earned an invitation to the
NCAA Men’s Soccer Championships.

UCLA (12-6-0) will meet up with one of its West Coast
adversaries, the University of San Diego (15-1-2), in the first
round. The Toreros, champions of the West Coast Conference, earned
a surprising fourth-seed in the tournament while the Bruins were
granted one of 16 at-large bids. The game will be played at San
Diego on Saturday at 5 p.m.

“It’s such a good feeling, a lot of relief,”
midfielder Caleb Westbay said. “It would have been kind of an
embarrassment if we hadn’t made it.”

While there are 12 automatic berths and four more play-ins,
which are essentially the same as automatic berths, the Bruins were
up for one of the 16 other at-large bids.

A 10-member NCAA selection committee chooses who will receive
these bids based on factors such as strength of schedule, record,
opponents’ strength of schedule and recommendations from
regional advisory committees. There are also secondary factors such
as head-to-head competition and results versus common opponents.
Other Pac-10 teams that received at-large bids are conference
champion Washington and former No. 1 Stanford.

The Bruins were on the bubble heading into Monday’s
selection. At one point earlier this year, the Bruins were the No.
1 ranked team in the country, but UCLA slipped considerably during
the second half of their schedule, effectively putting their future
in the hands of the NCAA selection committee.

But last weekend’s victories over then-No. 1 Stanford and
California put the Bruin’s back on track and were perhaps the
deciding factors for the selection committee. The fact that UCLA is
pitted against one of the eight seeded teams indicates that it was
one of the last teams to be selected for the tournament.

“We’re excited,” head coach Todd Saldaña
said. “For the first time in a long time, there were some
questions going into the selection, and it was more in the hands of
the committee than it had probably ever been for our
program.”

Defender Ryan Lee shares the rest of his team’s relief and
credits last weekend’s wins with helping the Bruins in more
than one regard.

“It’s a weight off of our shoulders,” the
senior co-captain said. “Last weekend was huge. I think it
was one of the decisions that allowed us to get into the
tournament. In terms of our team, it was a bonding experience that
allowed us to be able to play for one another.”

The Bruins are very familiar with Sunday’s opponent, the
Toreros. The two schools played in the first round of the
tournament last year, with UCLA coming out on top 4-1 at home. This
year’s rematch, however, is at San Diego. With that in mind,
the confident Bruins certainly aren’t overlooking the No. 4
seed.

“They’re traditionally one of the top teams in the
region,” Saldaña said “They’ve had a great
run this season. They are very tough at home. They have a great
chemistry and have been very successful this year.

“I’m particularly happy going into this having
played Stanford, which is also a very physical team, a very
organized, very difficult team. I think San Diego will give us all
of those things when we play them,” he added.

Looking at the rest of UCLA’s draw, the Bruins may have to
play some familiar foes if they get past San Diego. Lurking in the
second round is Creighton, who shocked the soccer world with its
upset of UCLA in the tournament two years ago. In the third round
there is the potential match-up against Virginia, who UCLA disposed
of a year ago en route to the College Cup.

Like last year, UCLA will likely have to make its run on the
road. But that doesn’t faze the Bruins.

“We’ve been on the road a lot,” Westbay said.
“I think we play very well on the road. We actually get up
for games a little more when we’re on the road.”

North Carolina earned the top seed in the tournament. The Tar
Heels will face William and Mary in the first round. Their quarter
of the draw includes Pac-10 Champion Washington, who hosts
Alabama-Birmingham, and No. 8 seed San Jose State, who hosts
defending national champion Indiana. The other West Coast schools
to be selected were Stanford, the No. 3 seed, and Cal State
Fullerton.

Click on the bracket below for a full size version!