Overcoming a seven-goal deficit since the 7:43 mark in the first half, No. 20 Colorado used a six-goal spurt spanning both halves to spark a comeback rally to top Stanford 18-16 in the first-ever Pac-12 game on Kittredge Field.

"In all honesty, I don't know if anyone on our team knew it was the first Pac-12 game in the beginning,” Colorado coach Ann Elliott said. “I think we were just focused on playing a great team in Stanford and coming out here and competing in our first Pac-12 game. Obviously, it's a conference game and conference is huge for us, so for us it's a big win.”

Darby Kiernan assisted Anna Collawn for the first Pac-12 goal just three minutes into the game before Stanford and Colorado exchanged three goals apiece in the next seven minutes.

But the Cardinal soon exploded with a six-goal run to lead 9-4 with 10 minutes left in the first period.

Miranda Stinson then scored for the Buffs, but Ali Baiocco scored two straight goals in another three-goal run for Stanford to go up by seven.

With 2:20 remaining until the break, Kiernan scored an unassisted tally to ignite a comeback. Coming out of halftime, Carly Cox continued the momentum in Colorado’s favor, scoring the first of five consecutive goals to bring the score within one with 20 minutes left in the game.

“We had to work hard to come back in the second half and we knew we had a plan that we had to stick to it,” Kiernan said. “We worked really well together in the second half."

Stanford then led 4-1 in the next six minutes, but that was its last offensive effort.

Kiernan again fueled the Buffs’ fire, responding with three goals in four minutes of her own, followed by a game-tying tally from Cox at the 7:54 mark, the go-ahead goal from Jen Mistretta 51 seconds later and an insurance score from Cox again with under three to play.

Kiernan finished with a team-high eight points on five goals and three assists. Stinson also had five goals, while Cox had four points on a hat trick and one assist.

Stanford outshot Colorado 43-38, but Buffs goalie Julia Lisella recorded 16 saves. Despite the Cardinal winning the draw battle 21-15, the Buffs grabbed more ground balls, 21-15.

“When you let in 12 goals in the first half, it's hard,” Elliott said. “It is hard to stay in it. Our team continued to stay in it and focused on doing the little things. I thought Julia did too and she came up with some huge saves for us down the stretch."

Maggie Nick led Stanford with six goals.

Division I Scores

American 12, Gardner-Webb 10
Delaware 16, Canisius 9
Lehigh 9, Mount St. Mary’s 8 (3OT)
Ohio State 14, Binghamton 13
Oregon 12, Cal 7
Siena 10, Central Connecticut 8

More Friday Scores

No. 18 Rollins 14, Seton Hill 8 (Division II)
No. 8 Mary Washington 16, Roanoke 7 (Division III)