The women’s cross country team won their 15th straight Metropolitan Championship

Columbia athletics put up a series of tough fights this week.  A tough one for women’s soccer and volleyball, but both cross country teams found victory in the Metropolitan Championships in the Bronx.  Field hockey had their ups and downs with a win and a loss, and the football team continued to struggle with a loss against Lehigh.  The men’s soccer team evened out their Ivy League recorded with a win against Penn, bringing them to 1-1.

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

Women’s Soccer (5-6, 2-1 Ivy League):

Results:

Lehigh 1-2 (L)
Penn 0-1 (L)

Overview: The girls had a heartbreaker at home on Monday as Lehigh swooped in for a literal last minute win.  In the 55th minute, Coleen Rizzo scored her fourth goal of the year.  Holding a 1-0 lead for nearly half of the game, Lehigh tied it up with a penalty kick goal with 56 seconds left on the clock.  In the first overtime, the Columbia girls attacked Lehigh with four goal attempts, but unfortunately none were successful.  Just over a minute into the second overtime, Lehigh managed to score the game-winning goal off a corner kick.

It was a tough week for the women’s soccer team as they had their first loss in the Ivy League division.  Isabel King had two shots on net and Chelsea Ryan had one shot in the first half but were unable to get past Penn’s goalkeeper.  The defense, meanwhile, did their part as Penn made only 3 shots–only one of which was on goal and was stopped by keeper Grace Redmon.  After a scoreless first half, the second half was a series of attacks from both sides.  One managed to get by Columbia though, and Penn came out 1-0.

Up Next: Tonight the Lions are playing NJIT in Newark and next Saturday they will be hosting Princeton at home.

Volleyball (7-7, 2-3 Ivy League):

Results:

Princeton 1-3 (L)
Penn 0-3 (L)

Overview: It was a difficult weekend for the Lions as they took on both Penn and Princeton on their respective campuses, and ultimately lost both matches.  On Friday in Princeton, the women won the first match but lost the subsequent ones by small margins.  There were still some happy milestones, though, as Atlanta Moye-McLaren got 13 kills and 15 digs while Megan Gaughn got 10 kills and 16 digs.  Unfortunately, though, a series of errors prevented Columbia from victory and they were beat by the Tigers.

After a sad night in New Jersey, the Lions took time to get heated up at Penn.  They lost their first set by a 5+ point margin.  Though they brought up the energy in the following sets, it was not enough to defeat Penn.  The third set was a real struggle with each team fighting hard for the lead.  When it was tied at 19-19, Penn was able to score three points, but Gaughn stopped them from continuing the streak with a kill.  Penn was able to regain possession, though.  Despite a kill by Caitlin Brenton, tightening the score to 24-21, the last point was won by Penn for their win.

Up Next: Another weekend of double-header Ivy League competition–but at home.  Dartmouth on Friday and Harvard on Saturday in Levien.

Men’s Cross Country:

Results:

Third Place in Metropolitan Championships

Overview: In this 8k run up in Van Corlandt Park on Friday, the men’s team ran for third place.  Nate Brennand got second in the race with 26:50.12.  Jon Harper, Ben Deal, Paul Snyder, and Noah Chodos also finished in the top 20 (13th, 16th, 19th, and 20th, respectively) with times under 27:15.00.

Up Next: The men will compete next Friday at the University of Wisconsin Adidas Invitational.

Women’s Cross Country:

Results:

First Place in Metropolitan Championships

Overview: The women took first place in the 5k Metropolitan Championships for the 15th straight year!  They won by an impressive 48-point margin.  Mallory Anderson was first with 18:14.99 while Caroline Williams and Leila Mantilla took second and third soon after.  Also in the top 10 were Sarah Eagan, Chelsea Carrick, and Molly Dengler in 5th, 7th, and 8th, respectively.  Great job, girls!

Up Next: The women will also be competing at the University of Wisconsin Adidas Invitational.

Field Hockey (7-4, 2-1 Ivy League):

Results:

Rider 3-2 (W)
Albany 0-2 (L)

Overview: In their 7th win of the last 8 games, the Lions were able to top Rider.  Three minutes into the match, Rider scored–but less than three minutes later, Columbia’s Gabby Kozlowski responded with a goal of her own.  Keeper Kimberly Pianucci managed 11 saves, including an awesome dive with 14 minutes left in the first half.  In the 43rd minute, Paige Simmons scored from a play off the corner, bringing Columbia ahead 2-1.  Bridget DeSandis scored the final Columbia goal with assists from Simmons and Katie DeSandis.  Rider scored one final time with 29 seconds left in the game, but at that point it was too late and Columbia got the W.

Unfortunately, the team did not have the same fate against Albany, losing in a shut-out 0-2.

Up Next: It’s back to Ivy League competitions as the Lions take on Penn on Friday in Philly.  Next Sunday, they will host Drexel at home.

Football (1-3, 0-1 Ivy League):

Results:

Lehigh 14-35 (L)

Overview: Lehigh managed a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and continued that lead throughout the game.  In the second quarter, Zach Olinger returned the ball 14 yard for his first career touchdown, bringing the score up to 14-7.  However, the half ended with another Lehigh touchdown, leaving the score at 21-7.  Marcorus Garrett scored for Columbia on a 26-yard run at the end of the third period, but it was not enough to push past Lehigh’s early lead.  They scored more in the third and fourth quarter, with a final score of 35-14 for Lehigh.

Up Next: The Lions will have some Ivy League action on Saturday at Penn.

Men’s Soccer (3-6-1, 1-1 Ivy League):

Results:

Penn 1-0 (W)

Overview: The men took on Penn in Philadelphia yesterday and came back from last week’s dismal L’s for w 1-0 victory.  The action started early in this game as the first shot was fired by David Najem in the seventh minute.  Penn returned in force, but was no match for goalkeeper Kyle Jackson, who fought for a career-high eight saves in goal.  With strong force on both sides, the game remained scoreless for most of the first half–but in the 38th minute, Jack Gagne scored on a rebound into an open net.  In the second half, pressure from both teams persisted, but neither were able to score.  From 73 to 83 minutes, Penn kicked 4 shots, 3 of which were artfully blocked by Jackson, while one went high.  With a skillful keeper and strong offense, Columbia was able to keep their 1-0 lead for the win.

Up Next: The men will be hosting Providence on Tuesday and Princeton on Saturday.