Not every week can be a beatdown: in its last non-Ivy game of the season, Columbia let a 11 point lead disappear, falling 24-21 to Lafayette. The Lions led 21-10 at the half, but Lafayette finally went ahead with 13 seconds left in the game to down a Columbia team that nevertheless showed the same confidence that they had last week against Princeton. Quarterback Millicent Olawale had another stellar game, with 153 yards and a touchdown in the air, and a further 75 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Star wide receiver Austin Knowlin (at right) also set a new record for career receptions (180), passing Don Lewis ’84’s record of 176. This coming weekend, it’s the big game: Homecoming against Penn. Look for more full details, and hopefully a special preview, later in the week.

Still, aside from the volleyball team’s two losses (at Harvard and Dartmouth), it was a strong weekend for Columbia athletics. The field hockey team won its 2nd game in a row, 1-0 over Holy Cross on a goal from Julia Garrison, while, hopefully in a foreshadow of Homecoming, both the men’s and women’s soccer teams defeated Penn. Pepe Carotenuto put away the lone goal on a late penalty kick in the men’s 1-0 win, while Sophie Reiser (one goal, two assists) and Ashlin Yahr (two goals) led women to a 4-2 win.

The cross country teams also had winning weekends, with both the men and the women taking first place emphatically in the Metropolitan Championships. Jacqueline Drouin took first place individually for the women, one of seven Columbians to finish in the top 10, and on the men’s side, Andrew Buchanon took 2nd individually. Finally, in tennis, first-year Nicole Bartnik has advanced to Monday’s finals of the USTA Collegiate Invitational, without having dropped a set yet.