STANFORD, Calif. - One week ago, Stanford came up empty in its season opener, dropping a hard-fought penalty shootout against a nationally-ranked Big Ten opponent.
On Friday night, the Cardinal flipped the script.
Erasing a two-goal deficit in regulation and withstanding three consecutive misses to open the shootout, No. 21 Stanford delivered when it mattered in a 3-2 penalty shootout upset of No. 7 Michigan in front nearly 500 fans at the Varsity Turf.
Most importantly, Stanford (2-2, 0-0 America East) finally broke through with a signature victory over a ranked opponent, after suffering a pair of tough-luck losses to No. 15 Northwestern (4-3 in a penalty shootout) and No. 4 Connecticut (3-2).
Friday's victory gave the Cardinal a split of its four-game, eight-day stretch, which also included a 4-1 triumph over Quinnipiac on Tuesday.
A constant for the Cardinal through four games has been the offensive play of Corinne Zanolli, who is coming off a sophomore season in which she scored a single-season school-record 26 goals. Zanolli was front and center again on Friday, accounting for all six Stanford shot attempts while scoring the first two goals along with the game-winner in the shootout.
Michigan held advantages in shots (20-6) and penalty corners (5-1), taking a 2-0 lead two minutes into the third quarter. The Wolverines efficiently controlled tempo throughout regulation and continued to apply pressure in both overtime periods.
Stanford was opportunistic with its chances, beginning with Sarah Johnson and Fenella Scutt assisting Zanolli on a penalty corner in the 34th minute and closing with Emma Alderton setting up Zanolli five minutes later for the equalizer.
The Cardinal fell into an immediate hole to open the shootout, with Zanolli, Scutt and Megan Frost all missing attempts. However, Kelsey Bing, who finished with 12 saves, turned away Michigan's final three attempts while Alderton and Jessica Welch found the cage.
In the next round of the shootout, Bing stopped the Wolverines' sixth attempt before Zanolli made it official.
Stanford embarks on a four-game, six-day road swing next week, with its first stop at Brown on Tuesday, Sept. 10.