Anteaters earn bye

IRVINE — Players, coaches, students, staff and supporters showed up in numbers at the UC Irvine Student Center Monday, to witness the televised announcement of the NCAA men’s soccer tournament pairings.

But UCI Coach George Kuntz, whose Anteaters earned the program’s first NCAA berth by claiming the inaugural Big West Tournament crown Saturday night before an Anteater Stadium-record crowd of 1,832, said he believed several others were there in spirit.

“This is for all the alumni, who built the program, were close, but didn’t get this chance,” said Kuntz, whose 14th season at the UCI helm will resume Nov. 25 at home at 7 p.m. against either UCLA (10-4-6) or Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (10-5-6), who meet in Saturday’s first round in Westwood. “We’re going to do our best to represent those guys well.”

Some of those guys witnessed the 2006 pairings announcement with slack jaws and welling tears, as the Anteaters were surprisingly denied an at-large bid after a then-school-record 13 victories.

One of those players was Brad Evans, whose Columbus Crew will meet the New York Red Bulls in the MLS Cup Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

“I got a call from Brad Evans on Sunday,” said Kuntz, whose Anteaters (14-1-6) are the No. 14 seed in the 48-team field, ranked No. 8 nationally and No. 1 in the Far West Region by the national coaches assn. “I didn’t answer, ‘Hello, Brad.’ I answered, ‘This one’s for you.’ He was on that team and he was in that room when we were snubbed.

“[Evans] just laughed and said ‘Coach, I’m so proud of all you guys.’ ”

The first-round bye and a home game were not unexpected, but were also not a given, said Kuntz, who called the program’s initial NCAA berth a defining moment in his 20-year college coaching career.

“Based on everything we’ve been through, we were just glad to see ourselves on the board,” Kuntz said. “We knew we were on the board [by virtue of the conference tournament crown, after winning the Big West regular-season title, as well], but to have a first-round bye is tremendous.”

While a nine-day layoff surely won’t help maintain momentum UCI has built with a program-record six-game winning streak (and an eight-match unbeaten streak), it will help the ’Eaters mend physically. Sophomore forward Spencer Thompson (whose eight goals and five assists give him 21 points, second only to senior Matt Murphy’s 11 goals and eight assists), missed all of Saturday’s 4-2 Big West final victory over UC Santa Barbara, and most of a 3-1 conference tournament semifinal win over UC Davis, with a sprained ankle.

UCI also played without starting junior midfielder Kevin Santora Saturday due to illness.

“We’ll have a chance to heal and we’ll get the chance to scout our opponent up close and personal,” Kuntz said. “UCLA and Cal Poly are both excellent teams that will bring excitement to [Tuesday’s] game.”

UCI tied Cal Poly, 1-1, in their only meeting this season (Oct. 22 in San Luis Obispo). UCI has not played UCLA since 2004 and is 2-14 all-time against the Bruins, for whom UCI assistant Kurt Schmid played under his father and then-coach Sigi Schmid, now the coach of Evans at Columbus. Kyle Schmid, Kurt’s brother, is a senior starting midfielder for the ’Eaters.

UCI senior defender David Sias said Monday’s announcement was a feeling he had long awaited.

“But this isn’t it and this hasn’t been it the whole season,” Sias said. “This is just one of our goals this season. We still have goals out there to attain, the main one being the national championship.”

Sophomore forward Amani Walker, who had a goal and two assists Saturday, also said UCI wants to make more history.

“I think this team can go far, I really do,” Walker said. “We work hard every practice and every game and everybody is there for each other. This team is going to keep pushing to go as far as it can.”

UCI, UCSB, Cal Poly and UC Davis will all represent the Big West in the tournament, which concludes with the College Cup (semifinals and final) in Frisco, Texas Dec. 12 and 14.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.