Women’s Soccer Meets Harvard in Ivy League Tournament Championship

Sunday, November 5

Providence, R.I.

1:00 PM

Columbia University

Harvard

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Lem Photography

Women’s Soccer Meets Harvard in Ivy League Tournament Championship

11/4/2023 6:04:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Watch on ESPN+Live Stats Tournament Page Tickets

Columbia faces Harvard in a rematch with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line

By: Garret Sulak

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Following an upset win over No. 14 Brown in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals Friday, Columbia will meet Harvard for the second time this season in the Ivy League Tournament Championship on Sunday at Brown's Stevenson-Pincince Field. First kick is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

THE REMATCH
The Lions will face Harvard for the second time this season after falling to the Crimson, 2-0 on September 30 at Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium.

Harvard outshot Columbia, 13-6 in the game as the Lions were held to just two shots on goal. Harvard's Ava Lung and Hunter Smith scored goals in the first 13 minutes of the contest to secure the win for the Crimson.

Harvard enters Sunday's championship game after posting a 4-2 win over Princeton in the semifinals Friday. Hannah Bebar, Josefine Hasbo, Ólöf Kristinsdóttir and Gabby DelPico all scored goals in the win.

KNOCKING OFF #14 BROWN
Columbia became the first Ivy League team to defeat Brown since 2018 with its 2-1 overtime victory against the Bears on Friday. The Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year Brittany Raphino scored the first goal of the game in the 39th minute. Raphino fired a shot from the top of the box through the left side to put Brown in front, 1-0 just before halftime.

Columbia came out in the second half and stole some of the momentum to level the score in the 53rd minute. Junior defender Marcia Ojo passed the ball off to senior midfielder Kat Jordan, who found the net for the eighth time this season. The First Team All-Ivy recipient has now scored goals in three straight games.

Going down the stretch, neither team could convert any opportunities at the net, sending the game to overtime. Senior forward Shira Cohen came up with her second game winning goal of the season as she found the ball after it was deflected off the post and sent it back into the net with about 45 seconds left in the first overtime period. Columbia held on in the final 10 minutes of overtime to secure the win.

"This is just an incredible team," Cohen said. "I am so proud of us. I think the mentality there is we just have so much belief in ourselves. We are coming off a 1-0 win against Princeton and before that, against Yale. We know we can do this. We know we can win the Ivy League Tournament. We have just been so united this whole season. We are fighting every day and we came into this game and Brown hasn't lost in four years in the Ivy League. We wanted this more than anything and I think we really showed that. That was a team effort there and I just love this group of girls. I know we can do anything."

CHECKING THE STATS
Nurkin has allowed just seven goals all season for a goals against average of 0.492, which currently ranks 10th in the nation. Nurkin finished the regular season with seven shutouts as she registered eight wins. She has tallied 48 total saves for a save percentage of .873, which ranks 16th in the country.

The Columbia defense had 10 clean sheets this season, with nine of those being wins. As a team, Columbia currently ranks 12th in the nation in shutout percentage and fifth in goals against average.

Jordan leads the Lions in goals with eight so far this season. Cohen follows with four goals. Nata Ramirez, Maia Tabion, Kendall McBride and Ania Prussak are each credited with three goals. Madi Pilla leads the team in assists with five. Ramirez and Tabion have each chipped in with three.

RECORD WATCH

Columbia has tied the program record of 10 shutouts for a single season that was set in 1998. One more shutout would set a new program record of shutouts in a single season.
Goalkeeper Paige Nurkin is one shutout away from tying the program record for shutouts in a single season. Ali Ahern currently holds the record for eight shutouts in 1998.
With two more saves, Nurkin would qualify for the individual save percentage record with a minimum of 50 saves. Nurkin's current save percentage of .873 is better than the current singles season record of .861 set by Ali Ahern in 1996.
Kat Jordan is one goal away from joining the record list for goals scored in a single season. With nine, Jordan would be tied at eighth in program history.

ALL-IVY LIONS
The Columbia women's soccer team had five individuals honored in this year's All-Ivy awards following the completion of the regular season. Senior goalkeeper Paige Nurkin and senior midfielder Kat Jordan highlighted the list by earning First Team All-Ivy honors. Junior defender Ania Prussak and senior forward Nata Ramirez took home Second Team All-Ivy honors, while junior defender Courtney Ruedt earned honorable mention status.

FOLLOWING THE LIONS
For the latest on the Columbia women's soccer program, follow @CULionsWSOC on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook at Facebook.com/ColumbiaWSoccer and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.