Field Hockey Moves Into Fourth With Win Over Penn

Columbia field hockey won a 1-0 nail biter in overtime against rival Penn (6-7, 2-2 Ivy) on forward Ariel Leon’s goal 8:40 into the sudden death overtime period. The Lions (7-5, 2-2 Ivy) pull into 4th place in the Ivy standings, trailing Princeton, Harvard, and Cornell.

A scoreless first half was understandable, as there was only one attack corner penalty awarded to either team (Penn). In the second half, however, Penn received five and the Lions received three, but neither team was able to capitalize with a score.

“I think we’ve had a lot of practice on corner defense and just know how to execute it,” said sweeper Jacqui Munro. “We have a strong unit built around our keeper Gena [Miller], who is excellent on corners. We just struggled to connect [on offense].”

However, once overtime began, the Light Blue knew it was time to step up and win this game or go home eliminated from Ivy championship contention.

“We really picked up the intensity in overtime,” said forward Jackie Klatsky. “We had been preparing for a victory over Penn for a long time, and we were determined to come away with the win.”

Leon, who hadn’t scored a goal all season leading up to this game, subbed in 4:06 into the OT period and hit the game winner shortly thereafter—an unassisted reverse chip shot.

The Lions, now two games over .500 for the first time since their championship run in 2000, will need help to achieve a similar success. Aside from winning out, the Lions need Princeton to suffer losses to Harvard and Penn, and for Cornell to come up short against either Brown--unlikely with a record of 0-12, 0-4 Ivy--or Dartmouth (4-8, 1-3 Ivy).

“We try to focus on our own game because that is the element that we can control,” said Munro.

Columbia will look for continued success at Dartmouth this Saturday.