Two weeks ago Stanford's women's soccer team may have thought playing in the Eiger Classic against Arizona and Wyoming would be an opportunity to get a couple of easy wins.

But after netting two consecutive victories against Brown and Temple last week, the Wildcats (2-5 overall, 0-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference) showed that this weekend's tournament could be more challenging than Stanford thought.

Arizona will face No. 16 Stanford, the toughest opponent on its schedule, tonight at 7 p.m. at Murphey Stadium in the Eiger Classic.

Stanford will then play Wyoming on Sunday afternoon in a neutral contest. Wyoming returns to Murphey Stadium on Monday to play Arizona to wrap up the Classic. Game time Monday is set for 11 a.m.

"It's going to be an extremely tough game on Friday," UA head coach Lisa Fraser said. "Stanford is a very good team."

Senior defender and co-captain Jennifer Rickard said that Friday night's match with Stanford (4-3) will definitely be one of the most difficult games this season.

"We have to go in there and play our best game and do the best that we can," Rickard said. "We don't want to adjust to play their game because that's when we will have no chance."

The two wins last week have given the Wildcats a lot of confidence that Rickard said will help them going into the two games this weekend.

"We needed to win some games," Rickard said. "We needed to have that behind our belt and know that we can win. Going in off of two wins is always a really good thing because you're pumped up."

This week's rain has restricted the team from practicing as much as it would have liked. However, Rickard said the team has been focusing on its quick possession game because Stanford is a team that does not let opponents hold onto the ball for very long.

"Stanford is definitely a high pressure team (and) you have to make quick decisions and not have very many touches on the ball," Rickard said.

Fraser said the team needs to work on having more of a low-pressure defense while also keeping turnovers down.

"We need to work on keeping better possession for ourselves," she said.

Stanford is led by senior Emily Burt, who has scored three goals this season. Sophomore goalkeeper Erin Bryla has recorded three shutouts and is averaging 1.71 goals in the Cardinal's seven games this season.

"Stanford is a complete team," Rickard said. "Everyone knows that they are a solid team in all aspects. They have it together in their defense and offense."

Rickard said that, in order for the Wildcats to be successful, they need to find the Cardinal's weakness and take advantage of its breakdowns.

"Every team has weaknesses and breakdowns here and there," she said. "We need to be able to take advantage of the breakdowns that they will have."

Stanford won the only other contest with Arizona, beating the Wildcats 4-0 last season in Palo Alto, Calif.

"This meeting everyone has to play hard and like a team in order for the Wildcats to be successful," Rickard said. "Every time somebody gets the ball I think it's important that everybody on the field thinks to themselves, Am I an option for the person wh o has the ball?"

The Wildcats are led by senior forward and co-captain Christine Keeley's two goals, off a team-best 14 shots. Senior goalkeeper Jen Weibel has recorded 37 saves in Arizona's seven matches with a three goals-against average, including a pair of shutouts.

Last week Weibel was nominated for the Pac-10 player of the week, but the honors went to Washington State sophomore goalkeeper Jessica Glazer.

The Cowboys (2-5) are led by sophomore forward Erica Campbell's one goal and one assist.

"Wyoming has been really up and down this season, so we'll have to see what happens against them," Fraser said.

Rickard said it is important the team does not take Wyoming lightly.

"Games like Wyoming, where we have the same record, we need to be the team that comes out with a win in those situations," she said.

Rickard said Fraser expects the Wildcats to play two solid games and to work on keeping possession of the ball.

"She's going to expect us to go out there and work as hard as we can no matter what happens," she said, "which means we need to play a good first and second half."

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