NEW YORK - Senior Christine Buszczak scored three goals and Julia Garrison and Julie Hatchett scored one apiece, leading Columbia to a 5-2 victory over Fairfield at the Columbia Field Hockey venue tonight.

The first half was all about second chances, as the Lions let Fairfield on the board first at 21:45 with a goal by Anne Nieuwenhuis, assisted by Molly Byrnes.  Byrnes gave Nieuwenhuis a direct pass off a corner, which found the left side of the net.

The Lions retaliated 45 seconds later, when Garrison scored off a rebound five yards in front of the goal, and Columbia took a 2-1 lead shortly after that, when Buszczak scored her first of the night off another second-chance shot. The Lions out-shot Fairfield 6-4 in the first half and led 2-1 at the break. 

Fairfield opened the second half aggressively, but the Lions struck first with a goal in the 54th minutes.  Caitlin Mullins found Hatchett to the right of the goal, who buried a shot past the lunging keeper.

Buszczak took advantage of another rebound eight minutes later, scoring a quick goal off a blocked cross.

Fairfield cut the lead to 4-2, when Michelle Onofrio tipped in a corner shot by Nieuwenhuis at 66:43, but Columbia countered and scored less than two minutes later when Gartland found a streaking Buszczak for a give-and-go play.

With the 5-2 win, the Lions improve to 3-2 on the season. Up next, Columbia heads north to take on Cornell and Syracuse on the road. The Lions will face off against the Big Red at noon on Saturday, September 26, before heading to Syracuse, for a Sunday match-up at 1 p.m.