When head coach Tracey Bartholomew first saw superstar senior wingback Amalya Johnson and forward Emma Anderson, CC ’19, go at each other in a club national championship game, she “knew that there was something about [Johnson] that was special.” She was extremely impressed with Johnson’s versatility as a center-midfielder and an outside back and remembered that during a particular game in North Carolina, Johnson dribbled past four opponents in a row.

An exciting Senior Day match against Harvard University ended in a double-overtime 1-1 draw for women’s soccer on Saturday. The Lions wrapped up the season with an overall record of 9-3-4, 3-1-3 Ivy, securing the fewest losses of the century for the program. Despite a successful season that saw Columbia take fourth place in the Ivy League, the Light Blue was unable to beat Harvard (12-3-1, 5-1-1 Ivy) for the first time since 2007, though it played the majority of the game with a one-player advantage.

Women’s basketball had a packed schedule to open the season, with three games in its first week. The Lions achieved a 1-2 record with the 70-51 win over Fordham University on Sunday, Nov. 10 after losing to University of Albany 82-78 in overtime on Tuesday, Nov. 5 and to St. Joseph’s University 71-57 on Thursday, Nov. 7.

Coming off of two consecutive away draws, women’s soccer ruined Yale’s title dream with a 3-1 victory at home. The Lions’ offense seemed to be rejuvenated, scoring more than one goal in Ivy Play for the first time since the 2-0 win against Cornell on Sept. 28, five games ago.

Women’s soccer lost all possibility of clinching the Ancient Eight crown this weekend when it tied 1-1 against Dartmouth. Despite leading in the first half after a goal by senior forward Emily Koe, the Lions failed to hold onto this one-goal advantage as they gave up a goal in the 52nd minute.

In need of a win to stay in the top half of the Ivy table, women’s soccer instead had to settle with a 1-1 double-overtime tie at Princeton after a last-second winner was controversially called off.

After losing to Brown last week, Columbia women’s soccer team bounced back on Tuesday in a thrilling 2-1 overtime win against Bucknell and continued its strong run of play with Saturday night’s one-goal victory over Penn. With a season total of six points, the Lions are now tied with Yale at third in the Ivy League rankings.

Despite fighting until the end in front of the home fans on Alumnae Day, the Columbia women’s soccer team failed to score on Saturday evening against Brown, and could not capture its second Ivy League victory of the season. This loss marks the first time in a decade that the Light Blue has lost to Brown. The Bears, who now lead the league with six points, scored twice on the day for its win.

The Lions achieved their third consecutive shutout on Saturday afternoon, kicking off Ivy play with a decisive 2-0 victory against Cornell.

In its final tune-up before Ivy League play begins, women’s soccer dominated its opponents at home with a 2-0 win against New Jersey Institute of Technology on Friday and a 4-0 win against Drexel on Sunday. For the Lions, the two victories concluded their most successful pre-Ivy League run in a decade and could foreshadow a successful season to come.