muscosportsphotos.com

The Yale women’s soccer team fell 3–1 to Columbia last Saturday afternoon and will be hoping to bounce back in its next game against St. Francis College in a Wednesday night home game.

The Bulldogs (2–13–0, 1–5–0 Ivy) faced the Lions (9–5–1, 3–3–0 Ivy) at the Rocco B. Commisso Stadium in New York City for both teams’ penultimate Ivy matchup of the season. Yale outshot Columbia 14–13 and had a 4–1 edge in corners but was unable to convert the goals necessary to clinch a victory against the Lions.

“Columbia was another example of us giving up goals against the run of play and not capitalizing when we have momentum,” head coach Sarah Martinez said. “I thought in the second half we played some of our best soccer to date.”

Columbia entered the matchup after a 3–2 win against Dartmouth and a 1–0 loss in double overtime to Princeton the week prior. The Lions opened Ivy conference play with a 1–0 loss to Cornell on Sept. 25, which was followed by a 2–0 loss to Brown on Oct. 2 and a 2–0 win over Penn on Oct. 9. The Columbia women’s soccer team is led by forward Nata Ramirez, who has scored seven goals and made 11 assists this season, and goalie Paige Nurkin, who has an 0.85 saves per shot average.

The Bulldogs, looking for their second Ivy win, were unable to defend against Columbia’s three goals. Yale made many attempts on goal, yet Nurkin made eight saves, only failing to save a shot by forward Ellery Winkler ’23. Yale goalie Maya Bellomo ’24 also made five saves over the course of the game.

The game began with a shot by midfielder Tanner Cahalan ’25 in the second minute, which was saved by Nurkin. In the 10th minute, Bellomo saved a shot to the bottom right by Ramirez. Less than three minutes later, defender Ania Prussak sent a ball to forward Shira Cohen and charged Yale’s net from the midfield, sneaking a shot into the bottom right corner of the net.

In the next 15 minutes, a series of substitutions were made for both teams. Yale brought in midfielder Rebeka Róth ’25, forward Tina Teik ’25 and midfielder Ellie Rappole ’25. In the 29th minute, midfielder Chloe Laureano ’24 fired a shot that went out top. Four minutes later, Ramirez followed with a shot of her own that went out top right.

In the 36th minute, Winkler made a shot out right, and in the 43rd minute Columbia forward Blake Turner fired to bottom center but was saved by Bellomo. Six seconds later, defender Ava Zlatchin made another attempt on goal to end the half that went out top.

“I thought this was a great team effort,” head coach Tracey Bartholomew said to Columbia Athletics. “Yale is a great team that made opportunities of their own.”

The second period opened with a yellow card issued to Columbia midfielder Sophia Cavaliere in the 50th minute. A minute later, Laureano made a shot to the top and Rappole made one to the bottom center, both of which were saved by Nurkin.

In the 56th minute, Columbia had a series of four shots, two of which were on goal and saved by Bellomo. The first was made by Ramirez to the top left of the goal, and the second by Cohen went out top. These were followed by Columbia Lions forward Ally Clark shooting to bottom center and a final shot by Prussak.

In the 60th minute, defender Molly Fallek made a shot to the top, which was saved by Nurkin and resulted in a corner kick. A minute later, Rappole made an unsuccessful shot and in the 65th minute, a corner granted Rappole another opportunity at goal, but her shot was blocked by Nurkin.

“Molly Fallek was a spark off the bench for us and really impacted the game in a new position for her,” Martinez said.

In the 67th minute, Clark passed the ball to Ramirez, who found the back of the net and added a tally to Columbia’s score. Midfielder Reina Bonta ’22 made a shot in the 74th minute, followed by a shot by Teik a minute later. A Lion corner kick in the 75th minute led to a shot by Prussak to the bottom left that was saved by Bellomo.

In the 80th minute, Turner made an attempt that went out top, and two minutes later, Ramirez fired and scored, earning her ninth goal this season. In the 83rd minute, Butcher made a shot to bottom center, which was saved by Nurkin. Fallek received a yellow card 20 seconds later.

In the last five minutes of the game, Winkler took the ball and fired it on goal, earning Yale its first tally of the game and avoiding the shutout. Winkler was assisted by midfielder Sarah Jordan ’22. Later, Butcher took another shot to bottom center in the 88th minute and defender Nana Yang ’25 took the last shot to the top in the final 40 seconds, both of which were saved by Nurkin.

This Wednesday at 6 p.m., Yale will play St. Francis of Brooklyn (5–7–6, 3–4–3 NEC) at Reese Stadium for their second to last game The two teams have not played according to the Yale Athletics website.

Most recently, St. Francis lost to Wagner in a 3–0 game on Oct. 31, tied to Fairleigh Dickinson 0–0 on Oct. 24 and defeated Mount St. Mary’s in a 4–0 match on Oct. 21.

Despite their loss to Columbia, the Elis are prepared to face their final nonconference opponent for their second-to-last game of the season.

“I am excited we were able to add another game versus St Francis Brooklyn on Wednesday after our CCSU game was cancelled last week,” Martinez said. “It gives our seniors another opportunity to compete in the Yale uniform and our group another opportunity to get better.”

Yale’s final home game will come against Brown on Nov. 6.