Aztecs, Toreros face off in rare matchup in NCAAs

— The San Diego State and USD women's soccer teams have declined to play each other in recent years.

Now, they don't have a choice.

The NCAA Tournament bracket was announced last night, and the Aztecs (14-3-5) and Toreros (12-6-2) were both sent to the same four-team regional.

Where they will play Friday in the first round.

Instead of making the 9½-mile trip between campuses, though, they will drive 130 miles north to play at UCLA's Drake Stadium. Friday night's winner (kickoff is at 8) likely will meet No.‚1-seeded UCLA on Sunday afternoon.

The last time SDSU and USD played women's soccer was 2006, a 2-0 USD win at Torero Stadium. A few weeks later, turmoil struck the Aztecs program and nine players quit or transferred, star midfielder Jen Mello among them. Mello ended up at USD.

The schools were scheduled to play in 2007, but new SDSU coach Mike Friesen said he scrapped the game for two reasons. One was that he claims the date was inadvertently double-booked with another opponent. Another was bad blood between Mello and some of her former teammates that boiled over, several sources say, with a fight at a party.

"I didn't think it was a safe game to play," Friesen said."With our program at the time, there was just a lot of pent-up anger. We were just trying to avoid any kind of massive conflict. Whether someone would get hurt in the game or someone would get a red card, it just wasn't the right environment."

The teams didn't meet in 2008, either, when Mello was a senior at USD. Friesen says he has asked to play since "but they always say their schedule is full."

They aren't scheduled to play in 2010 or 2011, either.

"I have nothing to say about that," USD coach Ada Greenwood said. "What's important right now is that San Diego State and USD both had good years, and they get to play in the NCAA Tournament. It's going to be a great soccer atmosphere on Friday."

Greenwood was in Indianapolis to serve on the NCAA selection committee, although he had no say in whether his team made the

64-team field or who it would play. He was asked to leave the room when the Toreros were discussed and again when the brackets were set.

But heading up the freeway to Drake Stadium can hardly come as a surprise. The NCAA is known notorious for limiting travel expenses in the early rounds, and this is the eighth time the Toreros have landed in a regional at UCLA. For USD juniors and seniors, it is the third year in a row.

For the Aztecs, who won the Mountain West Conference with a 1-0 upset of BYU, it's all new. Only two members on the roster have played in an NCAA Tournament game, and both are transfers. This is the third NCAA appearance in school history and the first since 1999.

"I couldn't be happier and I think we're ready for it," SDSU junior Cat Walker said of facing USD in the first round. "But I'm just excited to be in the NCAAs at all.".


