No. 14 WSU soccer will play No. 2 Stanford Cardinal at 8 p.m. on Thursday in Stanford, California.

“Stanford is the best of the best and has been the best of the best for a while … against Stanford, every move counts,” head coach Todd Shulenberger said in an interview with WSU.

WSU (8-1-0,1-0-0) will take on the four-time defending Pac-12 champions. Stanford (8-1-0, 1-0-0) leads the NCAA in goals per game (3.78), points per game (11.78), shots per game (23.44) and shots on goal per game (11.33).

Nine of the last 10 matches between WSU and Stanford ended within one goal. WSU is ranked eighth in offense scoring 2.78 goals per game against top-ranked Stanford scoring 3.78 per game.

Stanford has 34 goals this season while WSU has 25. Both teams have only allowed eight goals all season. In an interview with WSU, Shulenberger said that the WSU offense plans to stay consistent.

“It’s not just Morgan Weaver scoring every goal. We are doing a great job across the board,” Shulenberger said in an interview with WSU.

He said if a team in the Pac-12 conference is not sharp, beating the Cardinal will not work.

Stanford’s junior forward Catarina Macario, who won the MAC Hermann Trophy and was TopDrawerSoccer Player of the Year in 2018, enters the week as the nation’s leader in points and goals per game.

Graduate student midfielder Averie Collins scored the equalizer on a penalty kick in the game against OSU. Collins transferred from Stanford.

“Obviously those are some of my best friends as well … and I am definitely really excited,” Collins said in the post-game interview against Oregon State.

In the post-game interview, she said she is excited to show her Cardinal teammates what the Cougars have in Pullman.

In an interview with WSU, Shulenberger said that he is sure Stanford is excited too.

“[Collins] is such a great human being, and so are the Stanford girls, so I know her teammates will appreciate her coming back to play,” Shulenberger said in an interview with WSU.

In the post-game interview against Oregon State, Weaver said that her team is going to look at Stanford as just another game.

After Stanford, WSU will face No. 20 Cal at noon Sunday in Berkeley, California.

“This Cal team is scary hot … they have always been one of the best in this conference as well so we will worry about them Sunday,” Shulenberger said in an interview with WSU.

The games can be viewed on the Pac-12 Network. The game against Stanford will start at 8 p.m. Thursday, and the game against Cal will start at noon on Sunday.