STANFORD, Calif. - No. 21 Stanford dropped its season opener against No. 15 Northwestern on Friday afternoon, falling 4-3 in a penalty shootout at the Varsity Turf.
Facing the first of two top-15 opponents during this weekend's Stanford Invitational, the Cardinal (0-1, 0-0 America East) rallied to even the game at 3-3 with 12 minutes left in regulation.
After two scoreless overtime periods, Northwestern (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) prevailed in the shootout. After missing their first attempt, the Wildcats converted three straight opportunities. Meanwhile, the Cardinal led off with a goal but missed three of its next four chances.
Stanford received two goals from Corinne Zanolli, who surpassed the 100-point mark for her career. Zanolli, who has scored 43 goals in 42 career games, led the Cardinal with eight shots.
Rose Winter, who joined Megan Frost as freshmen making their first starts, brought Stanford even in the 49th minute with the first goal of her career following a penalty corner. Stanford scored on two of its four penalty corners, as Sarah Johnson provided two assists to initiate both conversions.
Northwestern, which held advantages in shots (23-14) and penalty corners (9-4), was fueled by two goals and 12 shots from Bente Baekers.
Kelsey Bing made a career-best 14 saves in the cage to keep Stanford within striking distance.
Stanford next hosts No. 4 Connecticut on Sunday at 11 a.m.