The 7-2 Columbia field hockey team traveled to Massachusetts this past Sunday to play Holy Cross. The game was a defensive battle, but the Lions were able to beat the Crusaders by a final score of 2-1.
The game’s first action came fairly early on at 8:18 when Christine Buszczak scored off of an assist from Megan Davidson. The goal officially made Buszczak the leading scorer for the Lions with five goals on the season. The assist was Davidson’s third of the fall.
After the early action, the defense kicked in—both teams failed to score for 53 minutes. The streak of defensive stops ended at 61:39 when Kara Gonnerman of Holy Cross scored without an assist. Columbia goalkeeper Gena Miller dove outside the goal, which left an opening for Gonnerman. Gonnerman took advantage and drove the shot into the low right corner.
With neither team able to break the 1-1 tie, the game went into overtime. Columbia controlled the extra period, outshooting Holy Cross, 4-1. The Lions’ advantage in shots led to a goal by Desi Scherf assisted by Buszczak at 82:51. Scherf was able to drive the shot past Holy Cross goalkeeper Erin Singleton into the right corner. Buszczak’s assist on the game-winning goal gave her eight assists on the season, tying her for first on the single-season assist record at Columbia. Buszczak is now tied with Tina Fernandez, who also had eight assists in 2001.
Columbia outshot Holy Cross, 19-6, in the game, which put the pressure on Holy Cross’s defense. In addition, eight different Columbia players shot the ball at least once, with Buszczak leading the team with four shot attempts. Defensively, Miller played a solid game, giving up one goal and collecting three saves in 83 minutes of play. Singleton performed well under the barrage of shots put up by Columbia throughout the game. She gave up two goals with a collected 14 saves in 83 minutes of play.
This victory extends Columbia’s win streak to three games. The next game on the schedule is a home matchup against Hofstra on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Hofstra is 7-3 overall and currently on a three-game losing streak.
