Liza Kaufman, Photography Editor

The men’s soccer team (1–6–2, 1–0–1 Ivy) hosted Columbia (1–4–3, 0–1–1 Ivy) Saturday night under the lights at Reese Stadium, and they emerged victorious, winning the game 1–0 to send the Lions back to Morningside Heights with a loss. 

Defender and center back Andrew Myerson ’27 described the excitement and relief that Saturday’s victory brought to the team.

“It felt amazing to get that first win. It was more of a relief than anything else, finally putting together a 90-minute performance, where there weren’t any gaps and big mistakes,” Myerson said in a phone interview. “We were pleased with the defensive performance and the whole team from start to front. It was our first clean sheet of the season, which was a big thing we’ve been working at in practice.”

Going into Saturday’s matchup, which marked the halfway point of their 2025 campaign, the Bulldogs were determined to turn their season around by securing a first victory. On the other sideline, the Lions were looking to replicate their 1-0 victory from last year.

Having spent the last week recovering from their Ivy opener against Cornell and preparing for Columbia, Yale had time to refine important aspects of their game. Myerson described the team’s confident mindset going into the game and credited the victory to the Elis’ play both on and off of the ball. 

“We were much more safe and secure in possession,” Myerson said. “We’ve had games where we’ve been out possessed by their teams very consistently throughout the game, and yesterday that was not the case and even if we were not on the ball, we managed it very well to slowly control our territory and not give up a gap.”

Right from the opening whistle, the Elis took charge of the game. At the one minute mark, sophomore defender Sven Meacham ’28 fired at Columbia goalkeeper Dean Kelliher, his shot just barely missing the goal post. Nevertheless, the Bulldogs kept up the momentum, putting up an aggressive attacking front throughout the entire game with first years Billy Altirs ’29 and Angelo Zhu ’29 leading the charge.

Though the match was scoreless by the end of the first half, Yale started the second recharged and ready to get a shot beyond the Lions’ goalkeeper. In the 58th minute, Meacham passed the ball to Owen Bull ’28, who headed the ball to Joseph Farouz ’27, who dove into the goal along with the ball to give Yale a 1-0 lead, spurring uproarious chants from the Yale stand. 

Farouz expressed excitement about his first goal of the season and the team’s first win, describing the result as a culmination of the team’s hard work. 

“It was awesome to see the work we put in finally pay off and to get that first win, especially in a huge Ivy League game; it means a lot and you can see that in our reactions after the game,” Farouz said in a phone interview. “We’re super ecstatic and hopefully we can use that momentum to keep building.”

With family weekend coinciding with the game and the Elis playing on their home turf, several team members described feeling motivated by a packed crowd. 

“When the goal happened, we heard it right away. It’s so helpful to us to have a big crowd there pushing us forward, it helps us go that extra distance, and everyone on the team definitely felt that,” defender Nick Miller ’27 said. 

For the rest of the game, the Bulldogs’ defense stayed strong and staved off the Lions’ attack. The game ended with a clean sheet victory for Yale, even though Columbia had taken 18 shots over the 90 minutes. 

The shutout marked a career first for Yale goalkeeper Conrad Lee ’26.

“It was great to keep a clean sheet with the team and a testament to the hard work we’ve been putting in on the defensive end in training. This is a performance we can all be proud of and we will look to use it as momentum in the coming games,” Lee wrote in a text message 

Saturday night’s victory moved the Bulldogs to No. 4 in the Ivy League 2025 men’s soccer standings. Yale is now tied with Brown for fourth place, with Princeton and Cornell tied for first, followed by Penn in third. Columbia’s loss dropped the Lions to sixth. 

For head coach Kylie Stannard, the way the team played was just as important as the end result.  

“I am so happy for the boys tonight. This was a really strong 90-minute performance and a very well deserved result tonight,” Stannard said in a Yale Athletics news release. “I am really proud of the fight we showed and to create the attacking opportunities we did while also earning a shutout shows a total team performance.”

The Bulldogs will return to Reese Stadium to host the University of New Haven Chargers (3–2–3, 1–0–1 Northeast) on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.