Women’s soccer forces tie with Tigers

While the Columbia women’s soccer team has displayed its explosive offense on numerous occasions, the Lions could not capitalize on scoring opportunities at Princeton this weekend. Nevertheless, they held the Tigers scoreless in a hard-fought stalemate on Saturday afternoon. “It was a pretty classic Ivy League game,” Columbia head coach Kevin McCarthy said. “Both teams contested the game well.” The matchup was a battle of styles, as Columbia is known for an aggressive attack and Princeton typically relies on its stingy defense. Columbia (6-5-3, 2-1-1 Ivy) entered the game having scored multiple goals in each of its past two matchups, while Princeton (5-6-3, 1-2-1 Ivy) had recorded three consecutive shutouts prior to Saturday. “Princeton played a good, strong game,” McCarthy said. “Their back line is always very physical and very sturdy, and they did a good job there. But I was pleased with how we responded as well.” Columbia took six shots in the first half and 10 overall, while Princeton finished the day with 13 attempts. The Lions had a chance to win the game when freshman midfielder Cat Rawls found the back of the net in the second overtime, but the referees called the goal back on an offside. “You never want to credit anything to just being unlucky, but we definitely had some unfortunate circumstances where the ball just didn’t quite fall our way,” senior forward Sophie Reiser said. “We’ve definitely been creating the opportunities to score.” Although neither team was successful offensively, the Lions and the Tigers both had strong performances on the defensive end. The game was Princeton’s sixth overall shutout this year and Columbia’s third. “What I was really pleased with was that we had the focus and concentration to make sure that they did not have any goals and any clear goal-scoring chances,” McCarthy said. “To do that over 110 minutes on the road, I think, is a really good step forward for us.” McCarthy is confident that his team will continue to move in the right direction. “We know we’re going to attack well,” he said. “We know we’re going to create chances. If we can maintain that type of consistency in the back, I feel pretty good about how we can move forward.”