PHILADELPHIA — A strong all-around effort guided the Columbia football team to a 23-17 victory over Penn Saturday for the Lions' first win at Franklin Field since 1996. Sophomore quarterback Chase Goodwin completed 28-of-40 passes for 334 yards, all career-highs, and posted a pair of touchdowns in the win. 

Senior Bryson Canty was his primary target, catching eight passes for 137 yards and a touchdown in the second quarter. Anthony Roussos paced the defense with a season-high 12 tackles.

"This win is a testament to how hard our guys work, including everyone on the staff and everyone involved with this program," Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football Jon Poppe said. "This was a total win, from the smoothness of our operation getting here to the execution on the field. I couldn't be more proud of our guys."

Columbia (4-1, 2-0) built a 14-0 lead with 6:47 remaining in the first half, thanks to a pair of interceptions to give the Lions a short field to work with. Aaron Brebnor came up with his first pick of the season to give Columbia the ball in Quaker territory with 4:13 left in the first quarter. 

On third down from the Penn 28, Goodwin rolled to his right to extend the play and connected with Canty down the sideline for a big conversion to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, Marcus Libman created space in the right corner to open the scoring with 58 seconds left in the opening frame.

After both teams turned the ball over on downs, Hayden McDonald was in the right place at the right time for his third interception of the season. McDonald returned it 19 yards to set up 1st and 10 from the Penn 18, and on the next play, Canty was left wide open on the right and walked into the endzone to double the advantage.

The Lions tried an onside kick, but the Quakers (2-3, 0-2) recovered to take over at midfield. Penn cashed in on two fourth-down conversions, which led to a one-yard rush from Malachi Hosely to cut the deficit in half with 1:06 before halftime. 

However, Columbia used a 20-yard return from Aiden Shinfeld on the ensuing kickoff and quickly marched down the field to set up a Hugo Merry field goal from 29 yards as time expired. The make was Merry's ninth in a row, which set a program record, surpassing the old mark set by Oren Milstein.

After the break and three and out by the Lions, Penn marched 80 yards to cut the deficit to three. Penn quarterback Aidan Sayin rushed it in from the 1 to cut the deficit to 17-14 with 7:30 remaining in the third.

Columbia muffed the kickoff to start its next drive on its own 2, but a pass interference call gave the Lions some breathing room. Later in the drive, Goodwin hit tight end Braden Dougherty over the middle on 3rd and 10 to cross midfield. Columbia made it to the Penn 2, but a sack on third down forced another 29-yard field goal by Merry to make it 20-14 at the 2:45 mark of the third.

Merry tacked on his third field goal from 24 yards out to cap Columbia's scoring with 11:17 on the clock, and the Quakers matched that with a 25-yard field goal with 3:42 left in regulation.

The Lions tried to run out the clock but punted to give Penn the ball back with 14 seconds remaining. Sayin completed a pair of passes, and his receivers got out of bounds to stop the clock with three seconds left at the Columbia 49. On the Hail Mary try, Jack Smiechowski stepped up to take down Sayin for the sack to end the game.

Hosely, who came into the game leading the Ivy League in rushing yardage, was held to 50 yards on 19 carries.

The Lions take on No. 22 Dartmouth, who is tied with Columbia atop the Ivy League standings, at Robert K. Kraft Field at Wien Stadium on Saturday, October 26, on Homecoming. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. on ESPN+. Tickets start at just $20. Click here to purchase seats, or call 888-LIONS-11.

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POSTGAME NOTES
- Goodwin became the first Lion to throw for over 300 yards in a game since Anders Hill against Marist in 2017.
- Goodwin completed passes to nine different targets.
- Canty posted his third career 100-yard receiving game and first since 2022.
- Roussos now has eight games with double-figure tackles for his career.
- Saturday was the third consecutive game in which Columbia recorded two interceptions, and the Lions won the turnover margin 6-0 during that span.
- Merry is now tied for No. 8 in program history with 16 field goal makes.
- Merry's streak was halted at 11 after he missed a 39-yarder in the fourth quarter.