The Columbia field hockey team will resume conference play on Sunday as it hosts Dartmouth. The Lions hold a 10-3-0 overall record, but have only been victorious in one Ivy League matchup thus far.

After opening conference play with a shutout win over Brown, the Light Blue was defeated in its next three league games. As a result, the squad is currently tied with Yale for sixth in the conference standings. The Lions have mainly been successful against nonconference foes and are coming off a 2-0 victory over Lehigh.

Junior forward Christine Buszczak leads Columbia in goals and assists with six and 10, respectively. Three other players—sophomore midfielder Julia Garrison, sophomore back Caitlin Mullins, and freshman midfielder Maggie O’Connor—have scored four goals apiece for the Lions. It will be important for these players to make their marks in Sunday’s game.

The Light Blue defense will also need to continue to dominate as it did against Lehigh. The Lions have only recorded one shutout—at Brown—during conference play. Columbia allowed Cornell to score four goals in the teams’ meeting while giving up three goals to both Princeton and Penn.

Dartmouth is 2-2 in the league—good for a three-way tie for third place with Harvard and Penn—but opened its season with five consecutive losses. The Big Green most recently beat nonconference foe Bryant in convincing fashion, 7-1, but this victory came after three consecutive defeats. Nevertheless, freshman midfielder Kelly Hood could pose a threat to the Light Blue. She leads Dartmouth with eight goals on the year.

Game time is set for 1 p.m. After facing the Big Green, the Lions play three more games to close the 2008 campaign. They will travel to Yale and Harvard for their final Ancient Eight matchups and will host Rutgers in between those two games.