ESPN.com's "resident women's soccer expert" Graham Hays has put second-seeded Florida on upset alert.

But unfortunately for the Cal women's soccer team, Hays predicted the surprise ousting of the Gators (17-3-1, 11-0 in the SEC) in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, not the first.

The unranked Bears (10-8-1, 3-5-1 in the Pac-10) will look to turn that alert into a victory a round earlier, as they take on Florida on Friday at 4 p.m. EST at James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.

"We feel very fortunate to be in this tournament," defender Katherine Daiss said. "We have a whole new mindset. We have a second chance at this season."

And the Bears' new mentality has not gone unnoticed by their coach.

"The team is still disappointed how they ended the season, going 1-5-1," Cal coach Neil McGuire said. "But there seems to be a new spirit amongst the group. We have an opportunity to prove ourselves against a very good Florida team."

The Bears will look to slow down the Gators' quick combination play, which has amassed 47 goals this season.

But Florida will not swamp Cal with the stingy defense that the Bears saw from No. 2 UCLA and No. 5 Stanford, as the Gators have given up 20 goals and allowed their opponents to take more shots than they have over the course of the season.

Cal, on the other hand, has consistently been able to find space for a crack, out-shooting its foes by more than 150 shots throughout its campaign.

But the Bears will be without their leading scorer Alex Morgan, who is in Chile at the U-20 World Cup representing the United States for the entirety of the NCAA Tournament. The sophomore has scored nine goals on 76 shots and has still found a way to chip in five assists.

And the bad news doesn't end there for Cal, as the Bears have not fared well away from home, going 0-6 on road trips that required plane flights.

Yet for the first time this season, the team traveled on a Wednesday, giving players all of Thursday-which is usually spent on a plane-to get acclimated to their new environment and kick out any remaining jet lag before Friday's match.

McGuire maintains that although his squad has had its rough patches, both at home and on the road, its tournament bid has evened out the playing field.

"We have a clean slate, how we did earlier this season is now irrelevant," McGuire said. "Every team is in the same position that we are."

Unlike the Gators, who were all but guaranteed an at-large bid, Cal is just happy to be in.

But Daiss thinks that this postseason 2,500-mile trip will only fuel the Bears' fire come Friday.

"We don't want to go home Friday night, we have come too far," Daiss said. "We want to make all this travel worth it."

Tags: CAL WOMEN'S SOCCER, NEIL MCGUIRE, NCAA TOURNAMENT