NEW YORK — Joao Lima scored the game-tying goal in the 79th minute to lead the Columbia men's soccer team in a 1-1 draw against Dartmouth on Friday night at Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium.
Dartmouth (4-5-2, 2-1-1 Ivy) came into the night with six points to sit atop the top of the Ivy League table. They were hoping to maintain that status and looked poised to do so when Vasilis Moiras put the visitors on top in the 63rd minute. Moiras' initial shot was saved on a diving stop by Michael Collodi. The deflection sent the ball careening off the post and back into the field of play. Moiras followed up the shot and put away the rebound.
Sixteen minutes later, Columbia (2-6-3, 0-3-1 Ivy) got the deserved equalizer. It came courtesy of the sophomore from Brazil, who was on the receiving end of a low cross played through the box by Will DeNight. Lima needed just one touch to put away the equalizer, blasting a right-footed shot from the left side of the area perfectly inside the right post from 12 yards.
"We worked really hard and this game was really transitional, so there was a lot of running," said Lima, whose goal was his third of the season, tying him with DeNight and Chad Baker for the team lead. "It just shows that we can do anything. [Dartmouth] was top of the league and we battled and, I genuinely think we played better. If we keep working hard and doing the basics then it's going to come."
Lima took a career-high seven shots on the evening and put five of them on target. Columbia took 15 shots and put seven on goal. Dartmouth took 14 shots and Michael Collodi came away with seven saves.
Ryan Yang sent the initial ball down the far side of the box for DeNight before the senior sent his cross in. Both Yang and DeNight were credited with an assist. For Yang, the assist was his first of the season.
"I thought the guys played really hard and left it all out there today," head coach
Michael Casper said. "That was important for us, to leave it all out on the field and give it everything we had. I'm pleased with our effort and I'm really pleased with the fact that we brought the game back as well. It's been hard for us over the year to manage being down but I thought, today, we got ourselves a deserved equalizer. I'm just really proud of the guys for continuing to fight and finding a goal to get something out of the game."
Dartmouth remains top of the league on seven points with the rest of the Ivy League to play their fourth matches on Saturday. Coach Casper knows the importance for his team to be able to get a result against a quality Ivy League side.
"I hope it gives our guys belief," Casper added. "Just the fact that we can play and be in the game against any team that lines up against us. There are no easy games across the Ivy League. I think that was certainly the case tonight."
Prior to the start of the game, Columbia honored Shahin Shayan '80CC. Shayan was inducted into the Columbia Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday night. Among his many career accolades, Shayan was a two-time Ivy League champion (1978, '79), a member of Columbia's 1979 NCAA Final Four team and named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player at the 1979 Senior Bowl. He still holds Columbia's career record with 113 points.
Columbia hopes to build off Friday's result and has nine days to prepare for its next Ivy League contest. The Lions will take on Yale next Sunday, October 22, at 4 p.m. ET.
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