CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Columbia men's soccer team kept the hopes of an Ivy League title alive with a 2-1 victory on a windy pitch tonight at Harvard.
 
With the win, the Lions improve to 10-4-1 on the year and 5-1 in Ancient Eight play, posting 10 or more wins for the fourth consecutive season.
 
Thanks to a goal in the opening minutes, Columbia gave itself some breathing room. After a Blake Willis throw in on the left side in the fifth minute, Sebastian Gunbeyi gathered the ball near the end line. Gunbeyi sent a left-footed cross to a wide open Dylan Mott in the middle of the box, and Mott finished right below the crossbar for the score.
 
The home team would find the answer later in the half in the 33rd minute. After the Crimson picked up a penalty kick, Dylan Castanheira was unable to stop the Cesar Farias attempt, equaling the score at 1-1.
 
Columbia had three attempts to go ahead before the break, but a shot by John Denis went high in the 35th minute, Mott had a shot blocked three minutes later, and an Andrew Stevens attempt on goal was saved by Harvard's Matt Freese, making it a 1-1 tally at the break.
 
Much like in the first half, Mott would find the answer at the start of the second. In the 51st minute, the Lions drew a corner kick that Blake Willis stepped up to take. With Mott and Stevens collapsing on the ball, a header made its way into the net, which was credited to Mott and made it a 2-1 match.
 
Just moments later, Dennis had an opportunity for a 2-on-1 that would have likely resulted in an attempt on goal, but was fouled by Harvard's Fernando Docters just shy of the box for a yellow card. The junior stepped up to take the shot and put a solid attempt towards net that went just right of the post, keeping it a one-score lead.
 
The Crimson had three solid looks in the final 12 minutes of the match, but only one of those shots made its way towards Castanheira and was saved. Harvard did draw a corner kick in the closing seconds, but the Columbia keeper was there to grab any threat, preserving the 2-1 victory.
 
Castanheira finished the match with three saves and the one goal against, as he will look to tie the Ivy League career shutout record of 26 next Saturday in the season finale against Cornell. The other Dylan on the team, Mott, now has five goals on the season with his pair today.
 
After Princeton defeated Penn today in overtime, the Tigers will have to drop points next weekend at Yale, or have Columbia not post a win to take the conference title out-right. If the Tigers were to lose or draw at Yale, a Columbia victory over Cornell will give the Lions the out-right conference crown.