Led by the eventual Ivy League Player of the Year, junior midfielder/forward Sophie Reiser, the Columbia women’s soccer team amassed a 4-2-1 record in conference play to finish third in the Ivy League. While their 2008 campaign was certainly noteworthy, the Lions had higher hopes after winning the Ivy title in 2006. Columbia headed into its final conference matchup with the chance to win at least a share of the championship, but fell short of the title at Harvard.
The Lions opened Ivy play with a 3-1 victory over Cornell. In its next league matchup, Columbia outbattled Brown in a 2-1 overtime win. The Lions then endured a double-overtime game the following weekend that ended in a 1-1 tie with Penn.
Columbia gave an early own-goal to Princeton but came back just over six minutes later to knot the score at 1-1. The tie remained in place until the 108th minute of play, when Princeton found the back of the net for a sudden-death victory.
The Lions suffered another 2-1 double-overtime defeat when they closed their season at Harvard. The Crimson struck in the first half against the Lions, but Columbia did not answer until the 50th minute. Both defenses then clamped down to force two overtimes, and a draw seemed likely.
With only nine seconds remaining, however, an unexpected foul call against Columbia led to a Harvard penalty kick. Crimson defender Lizzy Nichols easily netted the final goal of the matchup to tilt the score in the Harvard’s favor, ending Columbia’s hopes of regaining the Ivy championship.
The Lions should be a serious contender for the conference title in 2009, as all but one starter will be returning. All-Ivy second-team goalkeeper Rebecca Taylor is graduating, but with Reiser at the helm and three other second-team players on the roster, the Lions will have a chance to truly dominate the league next season.