After playing three consecutive home games, top-ranked Stanford women’s soccer (15-1-0, 8-0-0) will travel to Southern California for a pair of contests, as the Cardinal gears up to take on No. 6 UCLA (13-1-2, 6-1-1) on Thursday night before facing off against No. 5 USC (13-1-1, 7-0-1) this Sunday.

The Cardinal have held the top spot in the poll since Oct. 9, when it surpassed the Bruins who had been ranked first for the first five weeks of the season.

Still undefeated in Pac-12 play, the Cardinal have only dropped one game against Florida in August. Since losing to the Gators on Aug 25, the team has completed 11 shutouts in 13 consecutive wins, and outscored its opponent 54 goals to only two. Over the season, Stanford’s 13 shutout are the second-most in the nation.

The Cardinal have allowed the fewest goals in the Pac-12, conceding only five goals this season. This average of 0.313 goals allowed per game ranks Stanford’s defense fourth in the nation.

Stanford’s offense ranks first in the nation, as the Cardinal lead the country in goals per game (4.06), total assists (62), total points (192), shots per game (25.50) and shots on goal per game (11.69). The Cardinal have also broken the record for most goals in a single season, scoring 65 goals through 16 games. This beats the previous record, which was established by Alabama in a whole season, including playoffs.

Along with Stanford’s final regular-season game at home against No. 16 Cal on Nov. 3, these two games will be decisive in crowning the Pac-12 champion. Cal also plays against UCLA and USC this weekend, while all four teams are at the top of conference standings. Stanford checks in at first place with 24 points, USC is second with 22 points and UCLA and Cal are tied for third place with 19 points apiece.

The Cardinal is 14-12-3 all time against UCLA. Stanford has won the past two meetings, including a 3-2 decisions in double overtime last year. Against the Trojans, Stanford is 17-5-3 all time; despite dropping a 3-0 decision in 2016, the Cardinal have won seven of their past eight encounters with the Trojans.

Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu