On Saturday, the Columbia women’s soccer team moved a step closer toward claiming the Ivy League title when Harvard sustained its first conference loss of the year. But the Lions (6-6-3, 2-2-1 Ivy) did not take advantage of the opportunity to control their fate, falling to Dartmouth 2-0 on Sunday. The matchup, originally planned for Saturday, was rescheduled due to inclement weather.
Dartmouth (8-6-0, 3-2-0 Ivy) was aggressive from the start, but Columbia prevented the Big Green from scoring for most of the first half. With only five minutes remaining in the period, however, the Lions were unable to clear a Dartmouth corner kick. Senior defender Thea Sutton took advantage of the commotion, giving the Big Green a 1-0 lead with her first career goal.
Columbia struggled to create scoring opportunities throughout the game and took only five shots in the defeat. The Lions moved into the Big Green’s half at times, but they did not capitalize on their position in the field.
Dartmouth extended its lead in the 71st minute, when sophomore forward Aly O’Dea scored after a corner kick. O’Dea leads the Big Green with six goals this season.
“Give credit to Dartmouth. They took the initiative and after the first 15 minutes they controlled the match,” Columbia head coach Kevin McCarthy said. “They set a very physical and hard tempo that we never were quite able to step up to.”
The Light Blue is 5-0-0 when it scores multiple goals in a game and only 1-6-3 when it scores one or fewer goals. The Lions stopped most of the Big Green’s 17 shots on Sunday, but Columbia’s inability to produce on the offensive end proved costly.
“They didn’t allow us to play,” McCarthy said. “They had two or three players on everybody who got the ball.”
With the loss, Columbia is now tied with Princeton for fourth place in the Ivy standings. Harvard and Yale share first place with 4-1-0 conference records. The Lions host Yale on Oct. 30 and Harvard on Nov. 7
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