NCAA passes over WSU soccer team again

PULLMAN – The Washington State women’s soccer team thought this time it had surely done enough.

A year after barely missing out on an NCAA Tournament bid, the Cougars finished the Pac-10 season alone in fourth place as opposed to last year’s fifth-place tie. They played a stronger non-conference schedule, but still the result was the same.

Monday, the team watched as the field of 64 was filled out without a spot for WSU, meaning its season has come to a close.

“We thought we’d done enough, but in the eyes of the selection committee we didn’t,” coach Matt Potter said. “It’s somebody’s opinion. We don’t share that opinion but we respect that opinion and our job is now to find a way for it to not happen again. It’s two years in a row now that we’ve felt like that.”

The Cougars finished the season 9-7-4, an overall record that didn’t match last season’s. But having played better teams, they figured things might go their way this time around.

Historically, the field has included at least five Pac-10 teams, but this year only the first-, third-, fifth- and sixth-place teams made the field, leaving both fourth-place WSU and second-place Oregon at home.

The last time fewer than five Pac-10 teams made the field was in 1999.

“I felt we had a better chance this year than last year,” junior midfielder Anna Miller said. “You just have the worst feeling in your stomach all day and then you get there, and it’s not what you were hoping or expecting. It’s a big letdown.”

If there is a bright side for the Cougars, it could be that the team should be on the rise. Only two seniors were on this season’s roster, and half of the 24 players were freshmen.

The Cougars also set school records on defense, allowing well less than a goal a game.

They probably could have helped themselves with a sweep against a pair of lesser teams in the last week of the regular season, but in losing to Arizona State before beating Arizona, they may have cost themselves an at-large spot.

“I’m surprised the Pac-10 only got four teams. I really am,” Potter said. “If we have any substance and we have any character then we have to respond in the right way.

“We have a very challenging schedule next year, and I don’t think these guys would ask for anything more than that. When we signed up for this, we signed up to be the best and we’ve been told we’re not, but we’re more than capable.”