In most situations, the San Francisco Bay serves as a tangible division between Stanford and Cal, marking the dividing line in the Peninsula vs. East Bay regional rivalry. However, in Saturday’s 2 p.m. meeting between Stanford men’s soccer and the rival Golden Bears, the teams will likely showcase more similarities than differences in their styles of play.

“I think our teams are pretty similar,” said coach Bret Simon. “We look for skillful, exciting players. We both like to have teams that attack. Despite the fact that [neither team has] scored a ton of goals, I think you’ll see a close game.”

No. 24 Cal (7-4-1, 2-2-0 Pac-10) traveled south with the Cardinal (4-3-5, 1-1-2) over the weekend, losing to both No. 25 San Diego State and UCLA. The Bears’ record, however, is good enough to place them second overall in the Pac-10.

Cal’s offense is among the best in the conference, leading the Pac-10 in both assists (19) and scoring (15). The Bears rally behind senior midfielder Andrew Jacobson (2 goals, 3 assists) and leading scorer, freshman forward Andrew Weidman (4 goals, 4 assists). Simon thinks that his team’s confidence this weekend will largely be a result of familiarity with Weidman and Cal.

“We know [Weidman] very well,” Simon said. “We think very highly of him — he has speed, he’s got skill, and he’s good around the goal. He’s a very talented player, and we’ve seen him a lot. [We also know] Weidman’s speed makes him a threat to get behind in defense.”

That means Stanford’s defense will be back in the spotlight. The Cardinal fell 2-0 on Sunday to SDSU, ending a streak of five shutouts. On the season, only nine shots have found the back of the net against the Card. However, Cal’s defense and goalkeeper Stefan Frei have been nearly as impressive all year, leaving little room for error.

“Team defending has been good,” Simon said. “I know that Frei is one of the better goalkeepers certainly that we’ve seen all year, and we think our goalkeeping is some of the best too. We’ve had trouble scoring goals, and they’re not letting up many goals. But we’re not letting up many goals either.”

But Simon also sees the potential for the game to take a more offensive turn.

“It’s going to be an [interesting] game, in that potentially you have two teams that love to attack, have recruited a lot of attacking players, are not letting up many goals, and at times are struggling to score goals,” Simon said. “One would think you’ll see [goal-scoring] chances and some good-looking soccer [on Saturday].”

But, quality of play aside, the competitiveness of the match will inevitably return to the rivalry it represents. Even the newest members of the team have become acquainted with the tensions between the Bay Area schools.

“When it comes to Stanford versus Cal, there’s not a lot to talk about,” freshman Bobby Warshaw said. “We’ll go out [to play], and it’ll be a battle.”