NEW YORK — The Columbia football team used a big second half to top Princeton, 34-17, to start Ivy League play 1-0. The Lions (2-1) snapped a five-game losing streak to the Tigers (1-2), which dated back to 2017 and was the last time Columbia won its conference opener.

Three Princeton turnovers turned into 13 Columbia points to keep things close after a tightly contested first half. From there, Columbia outscored the Tigers, 28-7, after the intermission to secure its first home win against the Tigers since 2010, snapping a five-game skid at home.

The Lions posted 479 yards of total offense, compared to just 280 for the Tigers, and controlled time of possession, keeping the ball for 38:17.

"We did a great job executing in all phases of the game today," said Patricia & Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football Jon Poppe. "Princeton is well-coached. We created turnovers, didn't give them an opportunity to take the ball away from us, and our offense just kept chugging."

Senior Joey Giorgi had a monster game, rushing 18 times for 157 yards. Edan Stagg posted a career-best 99 receiving yards on six catches. Chase Goodwin returned to action and completed 19-of-30 passes for 210 yards, with a touchdown through the air and another on the ground. Hayden McDonald posted a pair of interceptions and led the defense with seven tackles.

Princeton marched 75 yards down the field on its first drive of the game to take an early lead. The Tigers were 3-for-3 on third down, and a 12-yard rush by John Volker opened the scoring with 10:16 left in the first.

McDonald's interceptions both came on fourth down tries and led to a pair of Hugo Merry field goals. The first pick came off the hands of a Princeton receiver with 4:57 left in the first quarter, and after a late hit on a Goodwin scramble put the Lions in scoring position to set up a 39-yard field goal late in the first. With Princeton inside the Lions' 10, McDonald dove in front of a Tiger receiver to give the Lions the ball on their 1-yard line. Stagg extended the series with a key catch and run on 3rd and 14 for a gain of 18, and Merry converted from 43 yards to make it 7-6.

Princeton used the final 2:55 of the half to get into range for its kicker, Jeffrey Sexton, who drilled a 41-yard field goal as time expired to make it 10-6.

A bad snap by the Tigers forced a fumble on their first drive of the second half, giving the ball back to Columbia on its 47. The Lions took advantage of the miscue with a 12-play drive that was capped by an eight-yard touchdown grab by Marcus Libman. On 3rd and 7 from the Princeton 8, Goodwin rolled left and hit the wide-open senior to give Columbia its first lead of the day with 5:56 on the clock in the third.

"We had to settle for field goals in the second half," Poppe said. "But in the second half, we made a gut call on fourth down, thinking we needed touchdowns to win this game. Then Chase and our protection proves us right, our defense finished the job, and special teams did their thing when presented the opportunity."

The defense answered with a three-and-out to give the Lions the ball right back, and a 40-yard rush by Giorgi led to a two-yard touchdown run by Malcolm Terry II to extend the advantage to 20-10 at the 2:44 mark of the third quarter.

Princeton brought it back to a one-possession game after a seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive, keyed by a 33-yard connection from Blaine Hipa to AJ Barber to put the Tigers in the red zone at the end of the third. Two plays later, the duo connected again for a 16-yard touchdown grab to trim the margin to 20-17 less than a minute into the final stanza.

Columbia used a roughing the passer penalty to march inside the Princeton 30. The Lions were aggressive and went for it on 4th and 5 from the 14. The Tigers sent pressure, but Goodwin used his legs to avoid the sack and scrambled in to restore the 10-point cushion.

After another key stop by the defense, Goodwin connected with Stagg for a 39-yard pickup to put the ball on the Tigers' 14. The Lions pushed inside the 2 after a pair of Giorgi rushes, and Cole Freeman punched it in to extend the advantage to 34-17 with 7:12 remaining. The Lions' came up with another stop and ran out the clock over the final 5:54 to ice the game.

The Lions will wrap up non-conference play next Saturday, October 12, when they face Wagner on Staten Island. Kickoff is set for noon on NEC Front Row.

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POSTGAME NOTES
- Giorgi hit the 100-yard rushing mark for the fourth time in his career and moved up to No. 5 on the Lions' all-time rushing list with 1,547 career yards.
- Terry's third-quarter touchdown was the first rushing TD of the season for Columbia.
- Jon Poppe became the first Columbia head coach to win his Ivy League debut since Bob Schoop in 2003.
- Merry has made six consecutive field goals dating back to last season, which is two shy of a program record.
- Saturday marked the 150th meeting all-time between Columbia and Princeton.
- Senior defensive linemen John Martin and James Knox made their season debuts after missing the first two games due to injury.