Bwog’s Friday Sports Roundup returns.

Before we get to current Columbia sports, one alumni note: Fernando Perez, CC ’04, has been playing with the Tampa Bay Rays since the end of August. He’s now with them in the World Series, after scoring the winning run in Game 2 of the ALCS against Boston. The New York Times profiled Perez a few weeks ago, for those who want to know more about him. 

Anyways, there are plenty of competitions for current Columbia athletes this weekend, so let’s get to them.

Basketball: Basketball pokes its head in, as the Ivy League preseason poll was released earlier this week. This year, Columbia begins the season ranked sixth. Defending champion Cornell holds onto the top spot with all 16 first-place votes, followed by Penn, Yale, Harvard, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, and Princeton. The team’s first game is at Fordham on November 14.

Football: The Columbia Lions could have won their first game of the season, if they had not focused so much on turning the ball over. Penn scored all of its points on Columbia turnovers, defeating the Lions 15-10 in Philadelphia.

Quarterback Shane Kelly, who had played so well in the first conference game against Princeton, had a nightmare day, with three interceptions and two fumbles, three of which led to 13 of Penn’s points (the other two came off of a high snap on a punt that led to a safety). On the bright side, the defense played reasonably well, holding Penn to 204 yards on offense.

This week, the Lions get some national exposure, playing Dartmouth at home in the Ivy League Game of the Week on Versus. Kickoff is at 4 p.m.

Women’s Soccer: The women’s soccer team, who had been on such a roll, finally hit a bump with a 2-1 overtime loss to Princeton last Saturday. An own goal in the 6th minute was balanced by first-year midfielder Nora Dooley’s sixth goal of the season just seven minutes later (Dooley was assisted by star junior Sophie Reiser). The teams could not find a goal for the next 95 minutes, but in the 108th, Princeton’s Sarah Peteraf found the net, sending Columbia to its first loss in 9 games. The Lions are now 9-3-2, and 2-1-1 in Ivy League play, and they hope to get back on track quickly against Dartmouth Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Men’s Soccer: It was a tough week for the men’s soccer team, as they were shutout by Princeton 2-0, and then lost to Lafayette 4-1 at home. The team is now 3-9-1, and 1-2 in Ivy League play. It hopes to get back into the Ivy League mix on Saturday, with the first of four games against Dartmouth, at home at 1 p.m.

Volleyball: After falling to 0-6 in Ivy League play with losses to Harvard and Dartmouth over the weekend, the volleyball team got a much-needed victory, 3-1 over NJIT. This weekend, they play Brown on Friday night and Yale on Saturday. 

Cross-Country: The men’s and women’s cross-country teams split up again last weekend, competing at Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Indiana, and the Princeton Invitational. The men finished 20th out of 40 and 4th of 13, respectively, while the women finished 19th out of 38 at Pre-Nationals. The teams have this weekend off before competing in the Ivy League championships next Friday in Van Cortlandt Park.

Golf: The men’s golf team has its final event of the fall this weekend – the Columbia Invitational in Galloway, New Jersey. The women’s team’s final event, the UAB Beach Blast in Alabama, is not until Election Day weekend. Both teams then hibernate until the spring, when the Ivy League and NCAA tournaments are played.

– JCD