Yale Loses Control Of Its Destiny In Ivy Race

NEW YORK - The Yale women's soccer team's quest for an Ivy League title took a hit Friday night at Columbia. How big a hit will be determined in the next eight days. Reining Ivy League Player of the Year Sophie Reiser scored the only goal of the game at 36:01 as the Lions upset the Bulldogs on a nice night at the Columbia Soccer Stadium.

Yale (9-6, 4-2 Ivy) will now root for Dartmouth to knock off Harvard on Saturday in Cambridge. A Big Green victory would lead to a three-way tie for first place entering the final week of play. The Bulldogs host Brown next Saturday, while Harvard is at Columbia and Dartmouth hosts Cornell.

Reiser's goal, her seventh of the season, came off a corner kick. Kelly Hostetler sent a long ball to the far post and Reiser emerged from a pack of players right by the goal line to knock it in.

Yale had a couple of opportunities to tie. Early in the second half, Lauren Cooke made an excellent tackle at the edge of the 18-yard box to negate a Becky Brown run. With less than four minutes remaining, Brown got another chance, but this time Columbia goalkeeper Lillian Klein made a diving save on her shot from the right side.

The Lions (7-6-3, 3-2-1 Ivy) outshot the Bulldogs 7-6 and had an 8-3 edge in corner kicks.

Adele Jackson-Gibson and Ayana Sumiyasu combined to make two saves in goal for Yale. Klein, who played the second half, stopped two shots.

The loss was the Bulldogs' first on the road in Ivy play.

Seniors Caitlin Collins, Sophia Merrifield, Leslie Perez and Hannah Smith will be playing their final regular season game when Yale hosts Brown. The four will be honored prior to the 7 p.m. kickoff.

Report filed by Tim Bennett, Yale Sports Publicity