COLLEGE MEN'S SOCCER: BRUINS SEEDED 8TH, MATADORS LEFT OUT.

Byline: SEAN CEGLINSKY Staff Writer

The UCLA men's soccer team played arguably the toughest schedule in the nation during the regular season, and the Bruins were rewarded Monday with the eighth seed and a first round bye in the NCAA Tournament, which begins this weekend.

UCLA (10-5-4) will host the winner of Binghamton (9-6-5) and Harvard (13-4-0) on Nov. 15 in a second-round game on the Frank W. Marshall Field at Drake Stadium. A possible showdown with No. 9 Clemson (12-4-2) looms in the third round.

``We thought the selection committee was fair to us,'' UCLA coach Jorge Salcedo said. ``We've played some big games in some hostile environments already, so we're coming into the tournament prepared.''

UCLA, which has qualified for the postseason 24 consecutive years and won four national titles, is 6-5-1 this season against schools in the 48-team tournament field, with victories against No. 10 seed Santa Clara, New Mexico, San Francisco, UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State and Washington.

All of the Bruins' losses this seasonhave come to tournament teams, including four teams seeded in the top 16.``We've established a tradition here and expect to the playoffs every year, regardless of who we play,'' Salcedo said. ``We know what's at stake. This is a single elimination tournament. Every game, every minute, every touch is important.''Cal State Northridge was one of the many teams on the bubble, and the Matadors ended up disappointed, failing to receive a postseason berth for the first time in four years. CSUN (8-6-5) finished in third place in the Big West Conference, behind first-place UC Santa Barbara (12-7-0) and runner-up UC Irvine (13-4-3).

``We did enough to keep ourselves out of the tournament, so we don't feel like we got completely robbed,'' Northridge coach Terry Davila said. ``This might be one of those things where we took a step back to take two steps forward. ``

UCSB (12-7-0), led by keeper Kyle Reynish (Hart High of Newhall), was awarded a first-round home game against San Diego State (9-5-4). The winner will advance to play third-seeded SMU (17-1-4) on Nov. 15.