Men's soccer notebook

Published: Tuesday, November 25, 1997

Tuesday, November 25, 1997

NCAA seeds four from West Coast

When the NCAA seeded four West Coast teams in the same bracket, the chances of the MPSF claiming a strong showing in the tournament went down the drain.

One of the criterions considered by the NCAA in seeding is the conference's overall success in the tournament. But with only one MPSF team capable of getting past the second round, UCLA head coach Sigi Schmid doesn't believe the selection committee seeded teams improperly.

Bruins will host Washington

The fifth-seeded UCLA men's soccer team found out Monday morning that they will host the second-round NCAA match-up against unseeded Washington.

The Bruins (18-2 overall, ranked No. 2 by Soccer America) are happy to get a chance to extend their home win streak to 20 - UCLA is 11-0 at home this year and 9-0 at Spaulding Field.

UCLA's two losses this year have come at Saint Louis and Fullerton. The last time the Bruins lost at home was Sept. 19, 1996, against California.

Teams haven't yet met in MPSF play

UCLA and the Washington Huskies (15-2-2, ranked No. 4 by Soccer America) face off for the first time this year - even though they both belong to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF).

UCLA won the Pacific division and overall MPSF title with a win over Stanford. A loss by Washington to the Cardinal wiped out the Huskies' chance to capture the MPSF title.

Washington got its revenge against Stanford with a 2-1 double-overtime victory at Seattle on Sunday.

Coye may not play due to knee injury

Senior defenseman Kevin Coye had an MRI done on his right knee late Monday and is questionable for the second-round match against Washington. He suffered an injury to his medial collateral ligament in the first half of UCLA's first-round 3-1 victory over Santa Clara.

South Florida, Indiana advance

The first seeded team to go down fighting was No. 8 Florida International, who lost 3-1 to South Florida on Friday.

FIU's failure to advance after last year's championship game appearance is reason to believe the NCAA seeding was a little questionable - especially since Schmid believes Washington should have earned a seed.

Also, No. 1 Indiana (22-0) survived a first-round scare by Butler. The Hoosiers, who have been favored to become champions since the start of the season, won 2-1 in overtime and kept their national title hopes alive.

Compiled by Vytas Mazeika, Daily Bruin Staff