Light Blue Opens Ivy Season with Shutout, Extends Streak

At the end of Friday night’s game against Brown, women’s soccer head coach Kevin McCarthy broke into his team’s huddle and reminded it what the 1-0 victory meant. They were atop the league, he told them, and they were going to stay there.

This display became a familiar one last season when the Lions won their Ivy opener for the first time in the history of the program. After their 2-1 win over Cornell in 2006, they sat alone at the top of the Ivy League—of course, no one else had played that night. Nonetheless, the 2006 side went on to complete an undefeated campaign and lift the league trophy.

And the Lions’ performance over the weekend made their intention to defend the title abundantly clear. What they lacked in clinical finishing against Brown, they more than made up for on Sunday by beating Iona, 4-0.

Brown came to the revamped Baker Field and set up a counterattacking strategy from the outset. But as the game wore on, the Bears forced Columbia into sloppy passing patterns, breaking up the Lions’ sense of rhythm. But Brown was unable to keep up the pressure as they ran into a hard-nosed Lion defense, led by senior co-captains Cathleen Cimino at centerback and Allison Vespa in goal.

“They had good pressure, they had some momentum and possession, but they never had a clean look,” McCarthy said. “Vespa managed her game well, so she didn’t have to stand on her head and make brilliant saves.”

Up front, the Lions were more frustrating. Besides the goal, Columbia created 11 shooting opportunities, but none ever seemed to worry Brown’s 5-foot-4-inch goalkeeper. “That instinct to go for the jugular was missing,” McCarthy said. “Those games should be 2-0 games.”

Still, the game’s only goal was but a flash of the Lions’ capabilities. In the 28th minute, junior Allison Leonard threaded a neat pass onto the feet of freshman Chrissy Butler, who was closely marked. But a cultured touch took the ball past the defender and gave her plenty of room to pick her spot. From the time she teed it up, her low shot was bound for the bottom left corner.

“She’s just scratching the surface,” McCarthy said of Butler, who notched her fourth goal of the season. “She’s learning and getting better every game.”

Less than 48 hours later, Butler was on target again as the Lions made the short trip to Iona. After setting up the game’s first goal for sophomore Sophie Reiser, Butler brought the score to 2-0 before halftime.

In the second half, freshman Keri Nobil picked up her first collegiate goal as Iona continued to struggle. Despite taking 10 shots, the Gaels only forced two saves from Columbia goalkeeper Rebecca Taylor, who played 67 minutes.
Reiser closed out the game with her third goal of the year.

The Lions are now unbeaten in eight games. They have only put together such a streak twice before, in 1998 and 2006. If they want to match the school record of nine in a row, they’ll have to avoid defeat against Penn next Saturday.