For the first time in Ivy League play this season, Columbia lacrosse took a lead into halftime. But for the fourth time in four conference tries, the Lions were unable to turn any of that positive momentum into a win.
Despite an 8-4 lead after the end of the first half, Columbia (5-5, 0-4 Ivy) could not hang on against Brown (5-4, 2-1), falling 15-10 to the Bears on the road. The loss is Columbia’s fifth in a row after a 5-0 start, dropping the team to 0-4 in the Ivy League. The Lions have not won a conference matchup since April 22, 2005.
Things started out, per usual, on the wrong foot for Columbia, with Brown’s Alexa Caldwell scoring off of a free position shot just 23 seconds in to give the Bears a 1-0 lead. A goal by Columbia’s Holly Glynn drew things even at one, but Caldwell struck again on an unassisted goal to give Brown a 2-1 advantage. The tide turned in the Light Blue’s favor right after that, however, with Brittany Shannon notching a goal 20 seconds after Caldwell’s to tie things up at two. Goals by Rachael Ryan and Glynn followed, putting the Lions up 4-2. From there, Columbia answered every Brown goal with two of its own, with Gabrielle Geronimos and Ryan splitting the four goals between them.
But as well as things had gone in the first half, they fell apart in a hurry in the second. Just a minute and a half in, Brown’s Katelyn Caro scored to pull the Bears within three. Kelly Robinson scored just under three minutes later to close the gap to two. And then Jesse Nunn notched two goals in two minutes to knot things up at eight. After this run, Columbia had no answer to Brown’s sudden burst of offense, and head coach Kerri Whitaker could only watch as her team allowed another five goals to fall behind 13-8.
After Molly McCarthy’s first goal of the year gave Brown that 13-8 advantage, Columbia finally responded with a goal by Shannon. But a pair of goals three minutes apart by Caro and Lauren Vitkus gave Brown 15, with scoring finally capped by Ryan’s fifth goal of the day with just three seconds left.
All told, Columbia was outscored 11-2 in the second half, with both Lions’ tallies coming in the last eight minutes after the majority of the damage had already been done. The Light Blue was outshot 21-4 in that period, as goalkeeper Emma Mintz was peppered with shots left and right, making only four saves after the break. Caro and Vitkus did the heavy lifting for Brown, combining for five goals. For Columbia, Ryan led the way with five scores, all but one coming in the first half.
The Lions will take a short break from action before resuming their quest for an Ivy win against Yale on Wed., April 8. The contest will take place at Baker Field starting at 4 p.m.