Colleen Rizzo CC’14 scored the game-winner against Brown

After beating up on the Big Red last weekend, the Lions had a number of tough contests that ended with mixed results. Men’s Cross Country cruised their way to a second place finish in the Louisville Classic. Women’s Soccer took down Brown for their second straight Ivy League match, putting them at the top of the league, and Volleyball edged out the Bears, too, in a close five-setter. Men’s Soccer, however, didn’t fare the same against Brown, falling 1-2, despite a late goal. And then there’s Football, where the Princeton Tigers returned the favor of Columbia’s 38-0 and 42-14 whoopings in 2009 and 2010, respectively, with a 33-6 clobbering of their own on Saturday. As they say, you can’t win ’em all.

Catch the full rundown of this week’s athletics contests below.

Women’s Soccer (5-4, 2-0 Ivy League):

Results: 


Brown 2-0 (W)

Overview: The Lions tallied their second straight Ivy League win of the season on Saturday on the road at Brown. Early in the first half, junior Colleen Rizzo posted two shots that were saved by the Bears keeper, but her offensive pressure payed off just minutes later. In the 20th minute, senior Isabel King’s cross found Rizzo’s head and the Lions subsequently buried it into the top right corner of the goal for Rizzo’s third goal of the season. Up 1-0, Columbia was awarded a free kick under five minutes after Rizzo’s goal. Junior Maya Marder floated a free kick into the box, where junior Beverley Leon was waiting to put it away. The header-goal put the Lions up 2-0 before halftime. In the second half, Brown was the team putting on the offensive pressure with 15 shots to Columbia’s 0. Sophomore keeper Grace Redmond fended off five shots on target to keep a clean sheet in the 2-0 shutout over Yale.

Up Next:  The Lions return home to face Lehigh on Monday at 7 pm before heading to Penn on Friday for their third Ivy League match of the season.

Volleyball (7-5, 2-1 Ivy League):

Results:

Brown 3-2 (W)
Yale 0-3 (L)

Overview: It was a mixed weekend for the Lions as they came out on top of a close five-setter with Brown, but then fell to Yale in straight sets. Against Brown on Saturday, the Lions fell behind early in the first set but battled back to even the score at 24-24. The Bears claimed the next two points and the set to put Columbia in a 0-1 hole. The second set looked like it would also belong to Brown, but the Lions fought back from a seven point deficit, bringing them within one at 20-21. Another Brown kill put Columbia down by two, but two kills from both senior Meghan Gaughn and sophomore Caitlin Brenton helped the Lions to win the set, 26-24, and even the match at a set apiece. In the third set, the Bears proved to be the better side, claiming the set, 25-20, but Columbia came out firing in the fourth, leveling the match once again, this time at 2-2. In the fifth and final set, the Lions did not once trail the Bears, winning the set, 15-7, and claiming their second Ivy League victory of the season.

It was a different story on Saturday against Yale as the Lions saw their five game winning streak broken and were handed their first home loss of the season. In the first set, Yale took control early, gaining an insurmountable 11-point lead and taking the set, 25-14. The Lions battled with Yale over the next two back-and-forth sets, but came up just short in both, falling 22-25 in the second and 23-25 in the third.

Up Next: The Lions hit the road next weekend for a pair of Ivy League contests, first at Princeton at 7 pm on Friday, followed by Penn on Saturday at 5 pm.

Men’s Cross Country:

Results:

Second Place at Louisville Classic

Overview:  At the Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday, the Men’s Cross Country team finished an impressive 2nd out of 32 teams, living up to their #28 ranking. #8 Iona was the only team to beat the Lions in the 8k race, in which Columbia had four runners in the top 25. Junior Jacob Sienko claimed the top place for the Lions, finishing 15th, followed by senior Leighton Spencer in 18th.

Up Next: Cross Country will compete in the Metropolitan Championships in Van Cortlandt Park on Friday.

Field Hockey (6-3, 2-1 Ivy League):

Results:

Princeton 0-8 (L)

Overview:  The Lions took on #3-ranked Princeton on Saturday, coming off of the longest winning streak in program history (6-0). Despite the momentum heading into the game, Columbia was unable to stop the Tigers from getting on the board early and mounting a big lead. Princeton scored for the first time six minutes in, and added two more goals within the next five minutes. By halftime, they were up 6-0. In the second half, the Lions picked up the defensive effort, but still couldn’t find the back of the cage. The Lions fell 8-0 in their first Ivy League loss of the season.

Up Next: The Lions take a week off from Ivy League play, facing Rider at home on Wednesday at 7 pm before heading to Albany on Sunday.

Football (1-2, 0-1 Ivy League)

Results:

Princeton 6-33 (L)

Overview: Strong Princeton special teams coupled with a series of errors from the Lions led to 6-33 loss in Columbia’s Ivy League opener. The Tigers wasted no time getting on the board, returning the opening kick for a touchdown and putting the Lions in an early 0-7 hole. Columbia was unable to get their offense going in the first quarter, but held the Tigers to a one touchdown lead until second quarter. A 13-play, 80-yard Tigers drive ended with a touchdown off a fake field goal when the field goal holder rolled left after the snap and made 14-yard touchdown pass. The Lions got on the board with their next drive, helped by a pass interference call on the Tigers. Senior Luke Eddy tallied the Lions first points of the game with a 26-yard field goal with under six minutes remaining in the half. Princeton responded with drive of its own as the half wound down, making it to the Columbia 25 and hitting a field goal to make it 17-3 at halftime. In the third quarter, Columbia made it to the Princeton 24 but were held by the Tigers defense, settling for a field goal to close the gap, 17-6. Princeton answered with a field goal of its own three series later, and added again to their lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter with a 44-yard touchdown. The Tigers closed out their first win of the season with two more field goals, bringing the final score to 33-6.

Up Next: The Lions hit the road next weekend, taking on Lehigh at 12:30 pm.

Men’s Soccer (2-6-1, 0-1 Ivy League):

Results:

St. John’s 1-3 (L)
Brown 1-2 (L)

Overview: After dropping a midweek contest to St. John’s, the Lions headed to Providence, RI to take on Brown in their first Ivy League match of the season. In a slow first half, Columbia out-shot Brown six to four. Sophomore Kofi Agyapong tallied the first shot for the Lions that went just wide, and junior Henning Sauerbier followed with two blocked shots, putting on some offensive pressure midway through the half. After the break, the Bears came out firing and eventually got on the board in the 70th minute wen the Lions gave up a penalty kick. Up 1-0, Brown found the back of the net again just six minutes later in the run of play to give them a two goal advantage. With just eight minutes to go, Columbia finally got on the board when freshman Antonio Matarazzo scored from outside the box for his first career goal as a Lion. The late-game effort, however, would not be enough as the Lions went on to drop their Ivy League opener, 1-2.

Up Next: The Lions face Penn on the road on Saturday at 7 pm.