The Columbia women’s lacrosse team began its Ivy League schedule with a 16-6 defeat against Yale on Saturday at Reese Stadium in New Haven. With this result, Columbia’s record stands at 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference, while Yale remains unbeaten at 6-0 (1-0 Ivy).
Yale established control early, building a 6-1 lead by the end of the first quarter. Cecelia Messner scored Columbia’s first goal midway through the opening period after receiving a pass from Cordelia Flemming. At the start of the second quarter, Emma Row found the net for Columbia, narrowing Yale’s lead to four goals. However, Yale responded quickly with two more goals before Anna Becker scored on an assist from Michelle Zhai to bring it to 8-3. Messner added another goal late in the half, but Yale led 11-4 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Yale continued its offensive push with four consecutive goals. Messner completed her hat trick in the final seconds of that period. The Bulldogs added another goal early in the fourth quarter before Maddie Brogan closed out scoring for Columbia off another Zhai assist.
Messner led Columbia with three goals, marking her fourth hat trick of the season. Row, Allen and Brogan each contributed a goal for Columbia. Zhai recorded three assists.
Goalkeeper Ava Kimche made a career-high 15 saves against Yale’s offense.
Flemming reached eighth place in program history with 103 career draw controls. Messner moved into Columbia’s top ten for both career goals (98) and assists (45), tying Dani Falcone for eighth all-time in assists. She also ranks seventh in program history with 143 career points.
Columbia will next play Rider on Wednesday at Kraft Field at 3 p.m.
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