Opening the back half of the Pac-10 season with a bang, the No. 1 Cardinal women’s soccer team put on a defensive showcase last weekend as it shut out both Arizona schools 3-0 on the road. Junior forward Lindsay Taylor found the net in each game, while senior forward Christen Press added her 19th goal of the season to further cement her position as the nation’s top scorer. With the pair of victories over the Sun Devils and Wildcats, Stanford (15-0-2, 6-0-0 Pac-10) remains undefeated on the season and perfect in conference play.

While the final score might suggest otherwise, Stanford’s opponent last Friday seemed a good possibility to be the first team to knock off the nation’s top-ranked squad. The Sun Devils (8-4-2, 2-2-1) came into the match third in the conference, hadn’t lost to Stanford in Tempe since 1999 and hadn’t dropped a single game at home in all of 2010.

Stanford, however, was quick to open the scoring. In just the 16th minute, junior midfielder Teresa Noyola knocked a cross pass from Press into the far post, scoring her eighth goal of the season as the ball sailed past ASU goalkeeper Alyssa Gillmore. The assist was the 40th of Press’s career, which ties her with Marcie Ward for Stanford’s all-time record. The senior forward also recently passed Sarah Rafanelli for the Cardinal’s all-time marks in points and goals.

Stanford extended its lead in the second half, with defender Annie Case assisting sophomore midfielder Mariah Nogueira and Taylor in the 62nd and 67th minutes. Case, a redshirt freshman, was making just her seventh start of the season as she posted her seventh and eighth assists.

Case began starting on defense against Washington State last week, and head coach Paul Ratcliffe has used the same starting lineup since that game. Another change he made around that time was moving junior Camille Levin to the forward position after having her play as a defender for most of the season.

Taylor’s goal put the score at 3-0, and that is how the game would end. The Cardinal allowed just six shots on the match while posting 21 of its own.

The Cardinal’s tough defense carried over into Sunday’s match against the Wildcats, which it won by the same score. The scoring began at the same point in the game as on Friday, with Press shooting an unassisted blast from the midfield into the right corner of the net. The Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. native leads the nation with 19 goals on the season.

“It was a picture-perfect goal,” Ratcliffe said.

As it did against the Sun Devils, Stanford extended its lead over Arizona not long into the second half. Noyola set up a goal for senior defender Allison McCann in the 61st minute, while Taylor posted her second goal of the weekend on an unassisted shot in the 66th. The junior forward has eight scores on the season.

The real story of Sunday’s match, though, was once again the defense. Stanford outshot the Wildcats 22-8, and Oliver needed to make only five saves as she posted the fifth shutout of her rookie season.

“The defense is incredible,” Ratcliffe said. “The last couple of weeks, they’ve really gotten in sync together. And they’ve really been knocking the ball around, not only defensively, but offensively as defenders. Annie Case had two assists on Friday and [sophomore defender] Alina [Garciamendez] helped out today. Even the defense is getting involved in the offense.”

Stanford certainly looked to be in good form last weekend, but as the postseason looms, Ratcliffe is still intent on staying hot and improving the team where he can.

“It’s about staying sharp, staying focused, and staying healthy and working on our fitness,” he said.

Stanford may be the current leader of the Pac-10, but with only two weekends of conference play remaining, it isn’t alone at the top of the standings. Oregon State is also perfect at 5-0 in the conference and boasts a 13-1-1 record overall. The No. 19 Beavers have allowed only seven goals all season, compared to Stanford’s 10. The two conference leaders will face off in the final weekend of regular season play, on Nov. 5 at Stanford.

As for next weekend, though, the Cardinal will head across the Bay to take on rival California. The Golden Bears (7-4-5, 2-3-1) lost to the Wildcats last weekend and forced a tie with the Sun Devils after pushing both games into overtime. Their rivalry game with Stanford is scheduled for 3 p.m. this Saturday in Berkeley.