SYRACUSE, N.Y. - It was a tale of two halves for the Columbia field hockey team on Sunday, September 27.  The Lions trailed No. 6 Syracuse 1-0 at the half, but the Orange erupted for five second half goals to defeat Columbia 6-0 in non-conference action.

The Orange came out on the attack starting at the opening whistle.  Syracuse had a chance to score 12 minutes into the game, but junior Hannah Smith came up with a huge defensive save to keep the game scoreless. 

Despite outshooting Columbia 10-0 in the half, it took the home team 29 minutes to finally crack the Lions' defense and get on the board.  Heather Susek and Nicole Nelson teamed up to beat Christie O'Hara at 29:13 to take a one goal lead.

The Orange's offense came out aggressively in the second half and pushed its lead to 3-0 on two goals less than a minute apart at 46:27 and 47:15.  Syracuse added three more over the final 15 minutes of action, including a pair by Lindsay Conrad.

O'Hara finished with three saves in 54 minutes of action, surrendering three goals.  Senior Erin Conway played the final 16 minutes, giving up three goals.  Julia Garrison had Columbia's lone shot of the game off a corner.

Columbia (3-4, 1-1 Ivy League) returns to action on Friday, October 2 when it travels to Princeton, N.J. to face the seventh-ranked Tigers.