Washington State women’s soccer will be in unfamiliar territory this weekend, in an attempt to upset the No. 12 California Golden Bears and No. 3 Stanford Cardinal.

WSU (6-0-2) has rarely been an underdog in games this season. However, that’s exactly what it will be today when the team plays in Berkeley. California’s (9-1-0) only loss came to Texas Tech in double overtime.

“What does Cal not do well? They possess the ball great, they create great scoring chances and they defend as a team very well,” Head Coach Steve Nugent said. “They have very good goal keeping. I think the one thing Cal does is know what they’re good at.”

Look for the Cougars’ attacking midfield to try to cause trouble for the Golden Bears’ freshman keeper Emily Boyd.

“Our job on Friday is to take away what they are good at, then we have to look to score goals when we get the ball in our possession,” Nugent said. “We have to do a really good job taking away what they’re good at. It needs to be difficult for them to possess the ball.”

The team then travels south to take on Stanford (8-0-2).

“I like traveling to Stanford,” redshirt junior Beau Bremer said. “They have a nice field, the tradition is great and the crowd is always a part of the game.”

If Washington State is able to get any results from these games, it will be a huge step for the program. Sophomore Kaitlyn Johnson knows what it will take to be successful in the Bay Area.

“We need to have fun out there and we need to keep a positive attitude,” Johnson said. “Always be respectful of your opponents, and go out and win these games.”

The game against Stanford will be televised on Pac-12 Networks. Live stats will be available on gostanford.com for the Stanford game and wsucougars.com for the Cal game.

Reporting by Ian Korzeniecki