The Columbia men’s soccer team will play a pivotal match at Yale this Saturday. Last year, the Lions lost 4-1 to the Bulldogs. Despite finishing out the first half with a 1-0 lead, the Light Blue defense collapsed in the last fifteen minutes of the game.
Head coach Leo Chappel believes that defense is the key for the game on Saturday.
“If we don’t give up a goal, we should be in good shape,” Chappel said. “It’s an away game, and the team will have no distractions.”
Indeed, the numbers show that the Lions have performed better this season when playing away from Columbia Soccer Stadium. Two of the team’s three wins, along with its only draw, have come on the road. The players seem to be more focused when competing away from the home fans.
This was certainly the case on Oct. 11, when Columbia broke a four-game losing streak by upsetting Penn in Philadelphia. The Lions played a brilliant game that night, intercepting passes left and right and not allowing the Quaker players to find their rhythm. It was the first time the Light Blue had won an Ivy League match since 2005.
Columbia’s defense was solid against Penn and Chappel says that if the team can “get locked in defensively” against Yale, victory should be within reach.
The Lions have a fairly new team this year with a couple of sophomores who were out last season because of injuries, along with several freshmen—midfielders Francois Anderson and Peter Morice, goalkeepers Alex Aurrichio and Zach Glubiak, forward Eric DeStefano, and defenders Nick Faber, Ronnie Shaban, Jesse Vella, Will Young, and Mike Mazzullo. This young team is full of potential, a fact which will become more evident as the players continue to gel and develop as a team.
Chappel recalled Columbia’s outstanding performance against UC Santa Barbara in September. With the combination of a firm defense and a continuous, relentless attack—including a hat trick by sophomore Bayo Adafin—the Lions showed themselves to be a formidable opponent.
Chappel’s hope is for the team to recapture the same vigor, passion, and overall unity that it exhibited when the Lions routed the Gauchos at the beginning of the season. “If the team that played UC Santa Barbara shows up, we don’t have anything to worry about,” he said.
For the second time this season, the Lions are coming off a four-game dry spell, and are looking to redeem themselves, just as they did earlier this month against the Quakers. It seems to be a realistic goal, as long as Columbia maintains a strong back line and is able to capitalize on the speed it has up front while sustaining the success it has managed on the road.
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