Europe began the day dreaming of a ‘Manassas miracle’ with Pettersen saying she had no option but to push her “form” players out in the early singles matches and English pair Charley Hull and Georgia Hall led from the front.
And Hull, out first against world number one Nelly Korda, raced to a superb 6&4 win, while Hall delivered a second European point out in match three with a similarly dominant 4&3 victory over Alison Lee.
But, in between those results, Megan Khang demolished Emily Pedersen 6&5 to put the US 11-8 ahead and within three and a half points of success.
And two of those red points quickly followed with Allisen Corpuz beating Anna Nordqvist 4&3, while former world amateur number one Zhang crushed Carlota Ciganda 6&4 to be the only player to score four points this week.
But then the nerves crept in with European blue flooding the bottom half of the scoreboard and setting up a dramatic climax.