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NEW YORK – Katie Ruesterholz scored on a pass from Christina Freibott with 75 seconds left to play to give Columbia a 3-2 win over Ivy League-leading Princeton in conference field hockey action on Friday, October 3. The win marked Columbia's first versus the Tigers in program history and gave Princeton their first League loss since 2011, breaking a 20-game conference win streak.
Freibott's assist put her alone at the top of Columbia's career list with her 22nd helper in two-plus seasons. It was also her 11th of the year, tying the single-season mark with eight games to play.
Columbia took an early 1-0 lead just two mibutes into the game. The Lions came out with great energy and a precise breakout pass by Rebecca Pope hit a streaking Ruesterholz. The sophomore striker drove to her right, drew out goalkeeper Anya Gersoff and tucked one into an open net to give Columbia its first goal against the Tigers in a span of 141:43, dating back to the 2011 season.
Nearly 14 minutes in, Kimberly Pianucci made the save of the game, denying a tuck-in try with a diving save to keep Princeton off the board.
Another Columbia scoring opportunity led to a penalty stroke being awarded to the Lions in the 17th minutes. Zoe Blake stepped up and fired a hard shot by Gersoff to make it 2-0 Columbia, a lead the Lions would take into the intermission.
Princeton responded quickly in the second half when Allison Evans scored to cut the deficit in half. Columbia held the Tigers in check for much of the frame, but eventually Princeton capitalized on a penalty corner with under 10 minutes to go to tie the game at 2-2.
Annabeth Donovan placed the insert to Sydney Kirby, who evened things up in the 62nd minute for the Tigers.
Columbia nearly went back on top when a nice passing sequence found Freibott alone in front of the goal, but her diving shot sailed just high in the 67th minute and it looked like the contest was destined for overtime.
It was Freibott's good work down the middle that set up Ruesterholz' game winner with just 1:15 left on the clock, sending the energetic Baker crowd into a frenzy, and giving Princeton just their sixth League loss in the past 20 years.
Pianucci made four saves on the night. Senior captain Lauren Skudalski had a defensive save in the fourth consecutive game, bringing her season total to six.
The Lions will hit the road to face Hofstra on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. in non-conference action.
