Field Hockey Needs Win to Stay in the Title Hunt

The Lions field hockey team enters today’s match against Yale looking to pick up its fourth straight Ivy victory and hold on to its outside chance at a share of the league crown. The game was scheduled for Friday, but it was postponed due to rain.

After dropping their first two league games earlier in the season, the Lions have won six of their last seven and their last three Ivy games. If Columbia beats Yale today and Harvard on Friday, coupled with a Princeton loss to Penn, the Lions and Tigers would tie for the league title.

“This game is huge,” head coach Katie Beach said. “A win keeps us in contention to finish in the top two of the conference and a loss drops us to three, four or five. It is indicative of how we finish in league.”

The team owes its late surge to great play from junior defense and goalie Gena Miller in particular. Miller has allowed only three goals in the team’s last seven games and has made 20 saves in the team’s three Ivy wins. Miller, who is in her second year as the starting goalie, has recorded five shutouts and is allowing only 1.22 goals a game. The Lions as a team have allowed the fewest goals in the Ivy League.

“Gena is playing really well,” Beach said. “We’ve won a lot of games because of her saves.”

Columbia faces a Yale team that has lost its last three games after winning six straight. The Bulldogs are 7-8 overall and 2-3 in league play. They have scored the third most goals in the league, although 13 of those have come in two games. The offense is led by sophomore forward Ashley McCauley who has scored 14 goals and recorded five assists. The last time McCauley did not score in a game was Oct. 13 against Harvard.

“We are going to work her,” Beach said. “We need to deny her the ball and be aware of where she is all the time. We are putting our freshmen Caitlin Mullins to mark her.”

The Lions’ chance at a seventh win in eight games comes today at the Field Hockey Venue at 3 p.m.

The reporter of this article can be reached at sports@columbiaspectator.com.