PRINCETON, N.J. — Down two goals and down a man with less than 17 minutes remaining, the Columbia men's soccer team rallied to cut the deficit in half and nearly sent in a late equalizer, but ultimately came up just short, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at Roberts Stadium.
 
Columbia went down to 10 men in the 74th minute when Andrew Stevens picked up his second yellow card. The referee deemed Stevens to have fouled Alex Charles too harshly on a 50-50 ball off a corner kick and quickly showed the senior his second yellow.
 
Despite the disadvantage in numbers, Columbia responded. First-year midfielder Uri Zeitz scored his second goal in as many games to turn the game on its head in the 78th minute. Sophomore Sebastian Gunbeyi was credited with the assist, crossing a ball through the box a few yards from the near corner flag that found Zeitz at the top of the area. The rookie struck the bouncing cross perfectly first time with his left foot, finding the back of the net off the far post to give the Lions momentum.
 
Zeitz and the Lions were denied the late equalizer by goalkeeper Jacob Schachner in the 86th minute. This time, Zeitz met an aerial cross with his head inside the six-yard box. His shot back across goal caught Schachner flat-footed but the Princeton keeper reacted out just in time to make a diving save to his left. It was the last of his seven saves in the contest.
 
"Even when we went down to 10 men, we still created enough to bring the game even but we could not execute in those critical moments," head coach Kevin Anderson stated. "To walk away with the loss maybe feels disappointing, but I'm not sure we earned more. We will review, continue to build, to grow and bring everything we have to Hanover next weekend."
 
The result drops the Lions to 3-5-3 on the year with a 1-1-1 mark in Ivy League play. Princeton holds the same league record with an 8-3-1 mark overall.
 
After Columbia sent a barrage of shots at the Tiger goal, Princeton scored the opening tally against the run of play in the 27th minute. A foul in the Columbia half gave the home side a free kick that Danny Hampton sent into the area. Richard Wolf won the ball in the air and headed it back toward the far post for a sudden 1-0 Princeton lead. Moments later, Collodi made a diving save to deny the Tigers a second goal for nearly the same spot.
 
However, seemingly from nothing, the Tigers would double their lead before halftime. Collodi had the ball in space a good 30 yards from goal. Princeton quickly closed in and the freshman keeper couldn't kick the ball away in time. Kevin O'Toole blocked it out of the air and had nothing but an empty net in front of him to make it a 2-0 game.
 
"We certainly did not have the best start to the game," Anderson added. "That's never easy and difficult for young players to manage and manage well."
 
The Lions had one more good look in the first half off the foot of Beto Carrillo, whose shot from outside the area required a diving albeit comfortable save by Schachner.
 
A chance for Sebastian Gunbeyi clanged off the post in the 63rd minute. The sophomore had a ball played through for him in the left side of the area that allowed him to get a left-footed shot off from close range. His attempt beat Schachner at the near post but took an unfriendly bounce off the woodwork.
 
"I thought we created numerous chances in the second half, won our individual match ups, played on our front foot," Anderson went on to say. "We hit the crossbar and their goalkeeper made a couple really key saves."
 
Columbia will look to turn things around next weekend when it travels to Dartmouth. Kickoff on Saturday evening in New Hampshire is set for 7 p.m.
 
For the latest on the Columbia men's soccer program, follow @ColumbiaMSoccer on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook at Facebook.com/ColumbiaMensSoccer and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.