NEW YORK—For the second consecutive year, Columbia Football will host NCAA Division III Montclair State in a preseason scrimmage scheduled for Friday, August 31 at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium, Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football Al Bagnoli announced Thursday morning. Kickoff for the scrimmage is at Noon, while admission is free and open to the public.
 
Columbia players report to campus today. Following move-in day (Thursday) and an administrative day (Friday), the Lions open preseason training camp with their first practice on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Robert K. Kraft Field. The Lions are set to practice 13 times before their scrimmage against Montclair State. Columbia announced its full schedule of preseason practices on Tuesday. A full list of preseason practices is also available at this link.
 
Columbia officially opens its 2018 season on Saturday, Sept. 15 at Central Connecticut State (5 p.m.).
 
It is the second time in as many years that Columbia and Montclair State will meet in a preseason scrimmage. Last year, Columbia defeated the Red Hawks 26-10. Led by NCAA Division III's winningest active head coach Rick Giancola, who begins his 36^th year in 2018, Montclair State finished 5-5 last season and 5-4 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference last year. The Red Hawks return three all-conference players in senior linebacker Mauro Altamura, junior offensive lineman Stephen Gaffney and senior kicker/punter Hunter Daley, the 2017 NJAC Special Teams Player of the Year.
 
It is the third time that Bagnoli and Giancola will meet on the sidelines as the duo's teams first met in the NCAA Division III Playoff Quarterfinals on November 25, 1989, when Bagnoli coached at Union College, N.Y. Union defeated Montclair State 45-6 that day to advance in NCAA Championship play. Bagnoli's Union team advanced all the way to the national title game/Alonzo Stagg Bowl before losing to Dayton, 17-7, in Phenix City, Ala.
 
Columbia returns 15 of 22 starters and six All-Ivy League selections from a program that recorded its best season in 21 years. Last year, Columbia posted an 8-2 record, finished second in the Ivy League with a 5-2 record, began a season with six straight wins for the first time since 1996, put together the school's longest win streak since 1935 (seven games) and posted one of the nation's top-five best yearly comebacks in the FCS with a five-win improvement from 2016 to 2017. Along the way, it was the Lions' resiliency, toughness and work ethic that captured the attention of their fans, the New York City media and national media members alike.
 
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