Women’s Soccer Falls in Wet Affair Against Yale

After a draw against Dartmouth, the Columbia women’s soccer team (6-5-4, 1-3-1 Ivy) was unable to build on its success, losing 2-1 to Yale (9-6-0, 3-2-0 Ivy) on Friday night at Columbia Soccer Stadium. Instead of evening its record in the Ancient Eight, the Light Blue remains stuck on one conference win, which came against Brown in the first league game the Lions played this season. The team now has to deal with three Ivy losses just a season removed from winning the league championship.

“We have to be much more consistent in our play,” head coach Kevin McCarthy said.
With this defeat, the Lions finish October without a win in five attempts—a stretch that lies in stark contrast to the eight-game unbeaten streak they rode earlier this season.

Only 17:40 into the game, Yale drew first blood on a goal from junior Maggie Westfal, the team’s leading scorer this season. After receiving a pass from junior Emma Whitfield, Westfal beat her defender and found the back of the net for her eighth tally of the season.

Despite a total of eight other shots on goal by both the Lions and Bulldogs, the teams entered halftime separated by that one score. Columbia’s offense has been flat in league play, but the Lions had opportunities to equalize the score in the second period.

The Light Blue was put into an even more compromising position after just three minutes of play. After Columbia goalkeeper Allison Vespa blocked a shot from Yale sophomore Leslie Perez, freshman Becky Brown got the rebound and the goal for the Bulldogs, giving them a more comfortable 2-0 lead.

“They won the battles; we didn’t,” McCarthy said.

Columbia would not give up the fight, however. With just under nine minutes left in the game, sophomore Sophie Reiser fired a hard shot on goal. Her attempt failed, but the Lions got on the board with the rebound from senior Lindsey Knowles, who has now scored the only goal for Columbia in two consecutive games.

Unfortunately, the veteran’s momentum could not bring Columbia back from an early deficit.

Not only did the Lions lose the game, but they also may have lost standout freshman Chrissy Butler for some time. With less than five minutes to go in the second half, Butler hurt her hamstring and was forced to stop playing. On a positive note, she was able to walk off the field under her own power, which could mean that her injury is not too severe.

The Lions will end their home stand on Saturday against Harvard.