Women’s Soccer Falls to Penn, Unbeaten Streak Ends

The women’s soccer team has won sloppy games before—its victory against Brown two weeks ago was one of them. But they knew they would have to put together a cleaner, crisper performance to beat Penn last Saturday. Instead, the Lions were sucked into a scrappy match that dealt their Ivy League title hopes a major blow as they fell to the Quakers 2-1.

The defeat was Columbia’s first in nine games since Sept. 2, and for half the team, the sophomores and the freshmen, it was a first-ever loss in Ivy play. The last time the Lions were beaten by league opposition was a dull game against Harvard in November 2005.

“We just didn’t come out and play the soccer we wanted to play,” said sophomore Sophie Reiser, who scored the Lions’ only goal. “Every game now is a must-win.”
Indeed, the three toughest teams in the league—Princeton, Dartmouth, and Yale—are next on Columbia’s conference schedule. And since no team in the last six years has won the title with a record worse than 5-1-1, the Lions have their work cut out for them. Come November, they might be looking back ruefully at the mad 12 minutes in Saturday’s second half that saw the game go from 0-0 to 2-1.

The first half was largely uneventful with Penn’s only threat of the first half coming in the form of sophomore Jess Rothenheber. She went close with shots from range three times in the space of a few minutes, including a looping effort that nearly put the Quakers in front. It took a strong right hand from goalkeeper Allison Vespa, who was nearly caught off her line, to parry it onto the crossbar.

In the 60th minute Vespa had to be on her toes again. Miscommunication at the back had allowed a pass to fall into the awkward space between goalkeeper and defender, and Jessica Fuccello pounced on it. But Vespa was off her line quick enough to smother the ball at Fuccello’s feet.

Two minutes later Fuccello had another chance to punish Columbia for some lax defending, and this time she did. Penn earned a free kick on the left side, and Fuccello was on hand to nod the ball home at the near post.

The goal opened up the game. All of a sudden, the Lions were peppering the Quakers’ penalty area with crosses. And when a low-driven ball in the 64th minute eluded two defenders to find the feet of Lindsey Knowles, she was brought down by a clumsy challenge from goalkeeper Sara Rose. The referee pointed to the penalty spot and the fans at Baker Field went quiet. Reiser stepped up, collected herself and right before she struck the ball, a voice piped up from the crowd: “See ya!”

The next second it was in the back of the net with Rose rooted to the line.
“After they scored, we showed that we could turn it on when we play our soccer,” head coach Kevin McCarthy said. “But our objective is to play that way consistently and we did not do that.”

Just six minutes later, with the teams locked at 1-1, the Lions had a chance to take the lead. Allison Leonard split the Quaker back line with an inch-perfect pass to Chrissy Butler. Butler rounded the goalkeeper, but her touch took her wide and her ensuing effort from a tight angle was cleared off the line.

Instead, Penn was next on the scoresheet. Meggie Ford misjudged a long ball into the Columbia area, and, once it was past her, bowled over the onrushing Quaker forward, Fuccello. The referee awarded the clear penalty kick, and Natalie Capuano put a weak shot past Vespa to make it 2-1.

Leonard and Butler responded with a pair of impressive individual efforts, but neither could draw the Lions level.

Columbia must now collect itself for a trip to Marist (4-3-1, 1-0 MAAC) tonight, its final non-Ivy game this season.

Marist’s home field in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. may seem as foreign to the Red Foxes as it does to Columbia, since Marist has only played a single home game this season. The Lions, meanwhile, have won their last four games on the road.

The game should provide a good opportunity for Columbia to iron out many of the problems that cost them a crucial game on Saturday before they go into the toughest spell of their season. The next two weeks will certainly determine whether or not the Lions can defend their Ivy crown.