Light Blue Offense Limited in League Play

The Columbia lacrosse team (3-5, 0-3 Ivy) continued to struggle offensively against Ivy League opponents in a 13-2 loss at ninth-ranked Penn last Saturday. The Light Blue has scored in double figures in four games this season—including its three victories—but has been stymied by talented Ancient Eight teams.

“Traditionally, Ivy League lacrosse is one of the best conferences for the sport,” freshman midfielder Lizzie Lee said. “It’s always our best competition.”

After opening the conference season with just two goals at Cornell, the Lions had five tallies at Dartmouth, the team currently ranked 20th in the nation. However, the Quakers limited their opportunities to build on this performance.

“Lacrosse really is a game of possessions,” Lee said. “If you don’t have the ball, then it’s hard to get in a flow.”

The Lions could not keep up with Penn on ground balls, grabbing only eight of them to the Quakers’ 17. In addition, the Light Blue controlled one less draw than Penn, which had nine. Columbia needs to improve in both of these areas in order to possess the ball more often during its games.

The Quakers had no trouble finding their offense on Saturday—Penn scored all seven first-half goals to take a comfortable lead into the intermission. The Lions responded just two minutes into the second period as sophomore attacker Brittany Shannon found the back of the net, but Columbia’s next goal did not come until the 15:06 mark on a shot by junior attacker Holly Glynn. During that time, the Quakers reeled off another three tallies.

The Light Blue has received few contributions on offense from Columbia lacrosse’s all-time leading scorer, senior midfielder Marisa Marcellino during Ivy play. She has zero goals in the Lions’ three conference games this year, and her one assist came against Dartmouth.

Despite a winless record in the Ancient Eight thus far, the Light Blue is undeterred.

“We played really hard ... so hopefully the next time, things will go our way,” Lee said.