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Lindsay Greco chases after the ball in the Bruins’ 4-1 victory over Oregon State. UCLA faces Texas A&M in the third round of the NCAA tournament Saturday night.

The UCLA women’s soccer team beat USC in the second round of the 2000 NCAA tournament, then defeated Texas A&M in the third round. After that, the Bruins took a trip to the eastern seaboard, where they defeated a favored Clemson University.

That path took them to the final four.

In 2002, the Bruins defeated USC in the second round and now face Texas A&M in the third round Saturday night at Drake Stadium. Should UCLA beat A&M, they will advance to the quarterfinals and face the winner of the Tennessee-North Carolina third-round match.

If the Tar Heels and Bruins win as expected, UCLA heads back to the eastern seaboard and will attempt to make history repeat itself with a trip to the Final Four.

“I’ve not seen similarities,” UCLA head coach Jillian Ellis said. “It’s a different team and it’s a different year. There’s not a lot of speculation or assumption that we’re going to go the Final Four. We’re here, we’re in this game and we’re in this moment and whatever happens, happens.”

The Bruins have taken special care to promote temporary amnesia by making inspirational shirts that succinctly state “one game at a time.”

UCLA would probably rather not look too far ahead, as it faces a school that is one of the best in the nation.

If UCLA thought getting the No. 7 seed in the tournament was unfair, that was a gift compared to the hand the unseeded Aggies were dealt.

“I almost thought about calling (Texas A&M head coach) G. Guerrieri and consoling him, because I think his team deserved a seed,” Ellis said.

So now the Bruins (18-3) and the Aggies (19-4-1) are stuck with each other. This is a tough match-up in the Sweet Sixteen – with potentially an even tougher quarterfinal to follow. The Bruins however, claim to prefer it this way.

“We’re going to have to beat tough teams to get to the finals,” junior forward Sarah-Gayle Swanson said. “I would rather play hard teams, because it shows that we should be in the finals.”

For UCLA, it’s been a tough road just getting to the third round of the College Cup. It took them two overtime periods and 22 shots to beat USC, 1-0, in a physical second-round match.

“We have to finish those chances,” Swanson said of the 21 missed shots.

“To be that close to ending our season on a team we felt we outperformed that night was a wake-up call.”

UCLA will have to face yet another physical team in the Aggies, but the Bruins are unafraid of the prospect.

They are confident they will secure another victory and gain passage to the quarterfinals for the third year in a row.

“As long as we keep playing, there’s nothing to worry about,” sophomore forward Lindsay Greco said. “I think we’ll do fine.”