NEW YORK - The Columbia field hockey team dropped its home opener to Richmond on Saturday, September 5 at the Columbia Field Hockey Venue.  Columbia falls to 0-1 on the season, while the Spiders picked up their first win to improve to 1-2.

Columbia fired the first shot of the game three minutes in when the Lions were awarded a corner.  A Spider defender managed to get a piece of Julia Garrison's shot from the top of the circle to break up the play and keep the match scoreless.

Four minutes later, Richmond struck first on a corner of its own.  Sarah Blyth-Wood lifted a shot over Erin Conway's head to score in the top right corner and give the Spiders a 1-0 lead.  Blyth-Wood would follow that up 10 minutes later when she connected with Adrian Pickar at 18:48.

The Spiders entered the break up 2-0 holding a slim 4-3 advantage in shots, with each team being awarded two corners.

Less than 10 minutes into the second stanza the Lions had a chance to get on the board.  First-year Gabby Kozlowski received a long ball and was able to seal off her defender down the right sideline.  She lifted the ball aiming for the top corner, but the ball sailed just above the cage.

First-year goalkeeper Christie O'Hara took over in cage for Conway in the second half.  Blyth-Wood fired a shot at O'Hara who made the initial save, but the Spider was able to collect her own rebound and put it away for her second goal of the day.  Richmond would add one more at 56:28 to finisht he game 4-0.

O'Hara had a game-high seven saves in 35 minutes of action.  Garrison had two shots in the game, while Kozlowski, Carson Christus and Katie DeSandis each had solo shots.

Richmond outshot the Lions 13-5 and held a 6-3 advantage in corners.

The Lions (0-1) return to action next Saturday, September 12 when it hosts Bucknell at 1 p.m.