Playing in its final away game of the regular season, the Cardinal has a chance to take a big step toward another Pac-10 title when it takes on rival Cal in Berkeley this Saturday. No. 1 Stanford (15-0-2, 6-0-0 Pac-10), now the nation’s only undefeated team, swept the Arizona schools last weekend and is looking for a victory in its rivalry game before closing out Pac-10 play against the conference’s other top squad, Oregon State, next weekend. The Golden Bears (7-4-5, 2-3-1) forced two overtimes and suffered a loss and a draw in that same Arizona road trip last weekend, and are looking for a victory to help ensure a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Stanford has been playing some of its best soccer of the year recently, extending its winning streak to 14 games last weekend. The success of the nation’s top-ranked team can be attributed to a number of factors, but there can be no doubt that the Cardinal’s strongest attribute over the last few contests has been its defense. Stanford has shut out four of its last five opponents, allowing a total of only 27 shots in that entire span. Over the year as a whole, the Cardinal has let in just 10 goals.

“The defense is growing in confidence, their communication is a lot sharper, they’re covering for each other better, reading the game better,” said Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe. “It’s just experience over time.”

Of course, the Cardinal’s offense hasn’t been slouching, either. Stanford boasts the nation’s top scorer in senior forward Christen Press, and has the country’s third-best offense overall with 3.00 goals per game. One of the biggest contributors for the Cardinal lately, however, has been Lindsay Taylor. The junior forward scored a goal in each game last weekend, earning her eighth score of the season. Taylor was the Pac-10 freshman player of the year in her rookie campaign, in which she scored 16 goals, but struggled through illness and injury as a sophomore.

“Lindsay’s having a great season, I think she’s starting to hit stride right now,” Ratcliffe said. “Her fitness level is very strong and she’s going to keep doing a lot of damage to other teams.”

The Golden Bears, meanwhile, have had a season of ups and downs. Stanford’s rival has suffered only one loss at home, but has yet to win on the road. After not losing a match in its first nine outings, Cal has gone 2-4-2 in its last eight. Currently ranked at No. 44 in the Ratings Percentage Index, which is intended to compare teams’ results and the difficulty of their schedules, the Bears are in line to earn a bid to the 64-team field of the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Ratcliffe says he isn’t particularly concerned about Cal’s strong history at home this season.

“I think whenever you go away from home, it’s a little more difficult,” he said. “You like having your fan support, and we have such great fan support here at Stanford. But it’s just another road game for us, it doesn’t matter where it is, we just go in there and play the best we can.”

Despite playing at home this weekend, Cal will be without its top scorer when it hosts Stanford this weekend. Senior forward Alex Morgan, who has led the Bears in scoring and points in each of the past four years, will be playing with the U.S. national team in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tournament. Morgan currently boasts a team-high 14 goals. The Bears’ next best scorer, Lauren Battung, has only six goals.

“I think Cal has a lot of good players, so they’re still going to be a strong opponent,” Ratcliffe said. “But Alex Morgan is a tremendous player, so it’s going to be a tough loss for them. But at the end of the day, we can’t think about that. We’ve got to think about [how] Cal has a lot of great players, and we need to show up and earn the win.”

The Cardinal, whose depth has allowed Ratcliffe to make lineup adjustments throughout the season, will be playing with all of its squad. The coach has settled on a more consistent starting 11 as of late, however, with junior Camille Levin up at forward after playing defensive fullback for much of the season, and redshirt freshman Annie Case starting on defense.

“I think it’s a good lineup for us, but tactically, I’m going to look at different teams we play and change things a little bit, so I think it’s always going to be a moving target,” Ratcliffe said. “But that’s a good setup right now.”

Stanford will head across the Bay this Saturday, and is scheduled to take on the Golden Bears at 3 p.m. at Edwards Stadium.