Women's Soccer One Win Away From Ivy Title

The women's soccer team has ridden a combination of tight defense and timely offense throughout this season. Their performance Saturday night at Yale was no different.

The Lions blanked the Bulldogs 2-0 on second-half goals by seniors Emma Judkins and Shannon Munoz. The win, Columbia's sixth in a row, moves the Light Blue to 5-0-1 in Ivy League play with just one league match remaining. Either a win at Harvard next Saturday or a Dartmouth loss will give the Lions their first-ever Ivy League title.

Head coach Kevin McCarthy was impressed with the team's performance. "This was, quite frankly, a very difficult game against an opponent that played some tremendous attacking soccer," he said.

"We all fought for 90 minutes. We all dropped back and defended well, all 11 players," added senior Meghan Hurlbut.

The first half went by without any scoring, but the two teams each managed a few scoring chances. Hurlbut fired a shot on goal in the third minute, but Yale goalkeeper Marcela Benitez saved it.

The Bulldogs nearly got on the board twice in the middle of the half. In the 27th minute, Crysti Howser found space in the Lions' defense and got her head on a cross ten yards from goal. Junior goalkeeper Allison Vespa tipped the ball into the crossbar and collected the rebound to end the threat. Howser later got a shot past Vespa in the 34th minute but was ruled offside, nullifying the goal.

The Lions created two more scoring opportunities before the end of the half but could not finish. Hurlbut got another shot on goal in the 36th minute, but Yale substitute goalkeeper Susan Starr denied her. Five minutes later, sophomore Jenny Brandt broke loose on a 50-yard breakaway but chipped the ball just over the crossbar from six yards out.

The Lions kept up the pressure on Yale's defense early in the second half before finally breaking through on a 59th-minute set piece. Munoz served a free kick into Yale's penalty area and found Judkins, who nodded the ball past Starr for a 1-0 lead.

Yale stepped up its own offensive pressure after the goal, getting five shots on goal and two corner kick opportunities over the next 23 minutes. Vespa made two saves, and the defense blocked two more to preserve the lead.

With just 91 seconds left in the game, Munoz sealed the victory for the Lions. After collecting a pass from Hurlbut near the left corner flag, Munoz dashed around a defender and chipped the ball over Starr for her eighth goal of the season.

The victory at Yale was the Lions' third shutout in a row and fourth in six Ivy League matches. The Light Blue have not allowed a goal since the 82nd minute of a 3-2 win over Princeton on October 14, a span of 278:18.