NEW YORK — A second-half goal by Yale broke the deadlock and the Columbia men's soccer team could not find a response, ultimately falling by a final of 2-0 Saturday afternoon at Rocco B. Commisso Stadium.
 
Columbia made the necessary adjustments at halftime to threaten Yale through the opening 20 minutes of the second period. First-year Uri Zeitz nearly opened the scoring in the 62nd minute with a left-footed strike that had to be saved out of the bottom corner. However, seven minutes later Yale took advantage of a free kick from just outside the area and Enzo Okpoye headed it in to put the visitors on the board.
 
The Lions created a few more chances to level the score and swapped out defenders for extra attackers in the final minutes. With Columbia chasing the game, Yale used its numbers advantage in the attacking third and tacked on an insurance goal with nine seconds left.
 
"Yale is a very good team – give credit to what they're doing – they are very difficult to break down," Columbia head coach Kevin Anderson stated. "They've got good pieces to the equation, whether it's in the starting group or guys they bring off the bench, and they do a good job.
 
"At the end of the day, we didn't have the quality we needed to break it down and we got exposed on a restart. Then we're trying to catch ourselves back into the game and they catch us from the run of it. Sitting there and being happy with 1-0 is not anything you've ever seen us do. I think we made the right adjustments by being a bit more direct and trying to catch one. We had a few little half chances … but I think tonight just came down to a lack of quality for us on the ball."
 
With the win, Yale (11-2-2, 4-1-0 Ivy) maintains its top position in the Ivy League table with 12 points. Columbia (4-6-4, 1-2-2 Ivy) has five points with two league contests remaining.
 
Yale ended the game with nine shots on target with Columbia first-year keeper Michael Collodi coming away with seven saves. Vana Markarian also came up with a couple defensive saves in the second half.
 
Referee Bahif Salman called a foul against the Lion that set up Yale's opening goal. The foul came as the ball was rolling out toward the end line. The ensuing free kick taken by Mark Winhoffer was headed in at the far post by Okpoye.
 
The Lions nearly sent in a quick response off a corner. Sebastian Gunbeyi sent in the set piece that made its way through the area to Carrillo, who struck it first time out of the air only to see it go high of the crossbar. With the game entering its final six minutes, another Columbia corner sniffed the Yale goal, but Gunbeyi's shot was picked up by Elian Haddock. The Bulldogs keeper ended the day with two saves.
 
The Bulldogs tacked on the late insurance goal courtesy of Winhoffer, who was there to send in a shot off the post from Miguel Yuste.
 
Columbia plays its final non-conference game on Tuesday, traveling to Hofstra for a 7 p.m. start. The next Ivy League game comes at home next Sunday, Nov. 10, against Harvard.
 
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.