TEANECK, NJ -- Junior
Ally Clark's early goal proved to be the game winner as the Columbia women's soccer team blanked Fairleigh Dickinson (3-3-2) 3-0 on the road at University Stadiun. The win is the team's third consecutive.
"Today was an outstanding team effort for the entire 90 minutes," said head coach Tracey Bartholomew after the win. "We played with the flare and excitement going to goal we needed to as FDU had an excellent GK and they were very organized defensively, having not allowed a goal in over 332 minutes and four straight shutouts."
Clark's goal came just over seven minutes into the first half off a long ball from sophomore
Nata Ramirez. With equal parts speed and finesse Clark was able to bypass the FDU goalkeeper to strike into the bottom right corner. Now with two goals to her name, the junior moves into a four-way tie for the team's most goals on the season (2).
Eight minutes later New Jersey native
Sophia Cavaliere blasted the insurance goal into the upper left corner off a pass from rookie
Claire Pinnie.
In the 78
thminute first year
Spencer Robbins found the back of the net for the first time in her collegiate career. Robbins was assisted by
Madi Pilla.
Despite a strong performance from FDU rookie goalkeeper Malene Nielsen, the Lions were dominant on offense outshooting their opponent 19-5 with an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal.
"Our players have been working hard to improve our attacking team shape, with dynamic runs and creating goal scoring opportunities and finishing," noted Bartholomew. "To be able to score three goals with many more opportunities shows all the work we have been doing together is setting us up for success."
Columbia's
Paige Nurkin made two saves for the clean sheet. Fellow goalkeepers
Audrey Byrne and
Lauren Rodriguez made appearances in relief, but the Lions defense did not permit a single shot on goal in the final 11 minutes of play.
Columbia will return to Rocco B. Commisso stadium this weekend for a two-game homestand; first, against Seton Hall on Friday then against Quinnipiac on Sunday.
For the latest on the Columbia women's soccer program, follow @CULionsWSOC on
Twitter and
Instagram, on Facebook at
Facebook.com/ColumbiaWSoccer and on the web at
GoColumbiaLions.com.