BRONX, N.Y. — Despite a scoreless first half on both sides of the pitch, the Columbia women's soccer team net a trio of second-half goals to record its first win of the season, defeating Fordham, 3-1, on Thursday night at Jack Coffey Field. With the victory, the Lions move to 1-1-1 on the 2019 campaign, while Fordham falls to 1-4-0 overall.
 
"The girls showed great resolve to turn around tonight. It wasn't like we didn't have moments in the Tennessee game, so we knew we could put some things together. It was just great to see the opportunities that we were able to create from knocking the ball around and getting goals the way we know we can," said sixth-year Columbia head coach Tracey Bartholomew after the win.
 
With neither team converting in the first half, the Lions entered the break with a 3-2 shot advantage, but Fordham held a 2-1 edge in shots on goal. Perhaps the best first-half look for either team came from sophomore midfielder Jessica Schildkraut, who ripped a free kick but the shot went high.
 
"We've always had a tricky time playing here, just getting used to a different field, different surface," said Bartholomew. "We were still creating opportunities. We were just talking to the girls, let's keep figuring out our ways that we want to get to goal, exploiting the width."
 
After making the necessary halftime adjustments, it didn't take long for Columbia to find its footing in the second half as Schildkraut got the scoring started in the 47th minute. Junior Cayla Davis slid into a 50-50 ball first and played it ahead to Schildkraut who collected the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and sent a perfect shot over Fordham's keeper into the top left corner.
 
The Lions doubled their lead in the 54th minute as senior Maddie Temares got the ball in space in the Columbia defensive half and sent a beautiful through ball up the center of the field to sophomore Mallaika Tomar. Tomar took the ball another 10 yards, going one-on-one with the keeper before sliding a shot into the bottom right for the score.   
 
In the 58th minute, Fordham broke through with their lone goal of the contest, gathering a loose ball off a corner kick. However, it didn't take long for the Lions to respond, as Schildkraut took a well-placed free kick from 40 yards out, finding the head of Davis inside the penalty area, who sent it in from seven yards into the right side of the net just under a minute later.
 
"We had some great moments I thought," added Bartholomew. "Cayla Davis played an outstanding game, and there were big moments in there. We were just able to settle down and were able to win the ball in the midfield and connect some passes. We countered really well and got ourselves to goal, so I'm proud of the girls' effort."
 
First-year goalkeeper Liz Matei earned her first career win in goal, playing all 90 minutes for the Lions and making a trio of saves.
 
Columbia out-shot the Rams 13-5 on the evening, with nine of those shots coming on goal. Schildkraut led the way with four shots in the match, three of which were on goal.
 
The Lions will continue their road stretch Sunday, Sept. 8, taking a trip to Lawrenceville, New Jersey, to take on MAAC opponent Rider. The match is set to get underway at 1 p.m.  
 
For the latest on the Columbia women's soccer program, follow @ColumbiaWSoccer on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook at Facebook.com/ColumbiaWSoccer and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.