CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Midfielder Nikki David collides with a South Florida player during the second half of the Wildcat's 3-0 win Sept. 21.

The Pacific 10 Conference is the part of the schedule that Arizona (4-5-1) has been looking forward to all year. Now that it's here, the Wildcats believe they have some surprises up their sleeves, along with the urge to be successful in front of some of their families this weekend.

Arizona, which plays host to Stanford today at 7 p.m. and No. 21 California at 1 p.m. on Sunday, gets its first chance to make a Pac-10 impression. Arizona has never beaten either of these teams.

"We're not looking ahead at other Pac-10 teams," said head coach Dan Tobias. "There's a reason this is the most competitive conference in the nation."

Last year, the Bay Area schools terminated the UA's season, beating the Wildcats by a combined score of 10-1. Everyone knows what happens in the desert ÷ there are a lot of problems buried out there.

"We're excited ÷ we've grown a lot so far this season," Tobias said. "We have a lot of respect for these two teams and we're preparing as best we can."

Stanford (5-5-1) comes to Tucson after losing a pair to Santa Clara and Loyola-Marymount by scores of 2-0 and 2-1, respectively. After being ranked No. 3 coming into this season, the Cardinal have been out of the Top 25 since Sept. 22.

Stanford has out-shot its opposition 158-71 this season. Arizona has done virtually the same, 155-82. Sophomore midfielder Mallory Miller has booted 34 of those shots for the UA.

Arizona has never walked away from the field victorious against Stanford, trailing the all-time series 0-8.

"If they're not ready, there's going to be some upsets," said UA junior midfielder Courtney Moseley. "I think we're going to be able to take it to them."

The Golden Bears (5-2-3) climbed into the national rankings on Sept. 2 and have danced between No. 10 and No. 23 ever since. Berkeley went 1-1 last weekend, scoring a 2-0 defeat over Marquette after being blanked by Missouri, 1-0.

Cal has shut out its adversaries in five of 10 games this season, allowing a mere 0.56 goals per game. Arizona has scored 1.6 goals per game.

"We're getting a lot of shots, but we need to take advantage of our chances," Tobias said.

Arizona is also 0-8 all-time against the Bears.

Wildcat goalkeeper Natalie Juarez has more inspiration than usual this weekend.

"It's my dad's birthday, so we're going to try an get a couple wins for him this weekend," Juarez said.