One of these years, the NCAA tournament selection committee for women's soccer will get an imagination and send USD somewhere other than UCLA.

Until then, the Toreros' annual draw remains as predictable as it is depressing. For the sixth straight time, and the seventh time in their nine NCAA tournament appearances, they were shipped 130 miles north to a four-team regional at UCLA from which the hosts almost always emerge.

The 14-4-2 Toreros face Long Beach State at 8 p.m. Friday in the opening round of the 64-team tournament. Win that, and they'll likely get No. 1-seeded UCLA at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Bruins (18-0-2) play Fresno State (11-8-2) in Friday's first match.

It was the same thing last year, when USD lost to Oklahoma State in the first round at Drake Stadium. And the same thing in 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and 1999.

“I'm OK with it,” said USD coach Ada Greenwood, whose team has been ranked as high as 11th nationally and finished second in the West Coast Conference. “Every team in every sport has a challenge it has to overcome, and this is our challenge. . . . But we're in the tournament; 280 teams aren't.”

The two pieces of good news are that the Toreros beat Long Beach State (14-3-4) last month and that they are intimate with UCLA's Drake Stadium. USD played eight games at Torero Stadium this season. It could play five at Drake Stadium.

It played Miami and New Mexico to 0-0 ties there in a September tournament, and lost to UCLA 3-0 there in October after holding the Bruins scoreless in the first half. Now it will play at Drake on Friday, and perhaps Sunday.

“We're comfortable on that field,” Greenwood said. “We played five (of six) halves of soccer there this year without allowing a goal.”

The game against Long Beach State was Oct. 8 in Long Beach. USD won 1-0 behind a 32nd-minute goal by senior Jen Mello and six saves by senior goalkeeper Brittany Cameron.