NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - The Columbia lacrosse team concluded its non-conference schedule with a victory over Central Connecticut State on Tuesday evening at Arute Field. The Lions led wire-to-wire, cruising to a 17-8 win behind a big night from
Cordelia Flemming and a career game from
Noelle DeMarinis.
With the victory, Columbia secures its second road win of the year and improves to 4-4 in non-conference games on the season. This marks the first time since 2017 the Lions finished .500 or better in non-Ivy League games. Overall, Columbia moves to 4-9.
"This team played together and showed balanced scoring, a strong team defensive effort, and a great ride," Head Coach
Anne Murray said. "This is the energy we will need to harness going into another top-25 Ivy League matchup this weekend."
Making her third start of the season,
Ellie Taylor wasted little time to make an impact, scoring the first goal of the game just over a minute after the first draw. Flemming scored her first goal of the night a few minutes later, but CCSU quickly answered with two goals of their own to tie things up at 2-2 with 8:12 left in the period.
From that point, Columbia's defense took over, allowing the Lion offense to flourish and get out to an insurmountable lead. Columbia's back line held the Blue Devils scoreless for nearly 20 minutes of game time for the remainder of the second half, with help from
Kate Cunning (4) and
Serena Hong (3) who botch collected a career-high in caused turnovers.
Over the remainder of the first half the Lions went on a 7-1 run, which saw Flemming complete a first half hat trick and DeMarinis notch two of her eventual three goals which would mark her first career hat trick. With two minutes left,
Dylan Silar found the back of the net for the first time this season, giving Columbia a 9-3 lead at the break.
Anna Becker kept the Lions' momentum going into the third quarter with her goal of the game coming just over a minute after the teams re-took the field. CCSU would use a 3-0 run midway through the quarter to cut Columbia's lead down to five goals, but Cunning put an end to that and ignited a 5-0 Columbia run spanning the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter to put things out of reach.
With two minutes left in the game,
Natalia Raiszadeh put the finishing touches on the Lions' 17-8 win with a beautiful goal assisted by
Riya Batra.
Overall, a season-high 10 different Lions found the back of the net, led by Flemming who had four on the evening.
Michelle Zhai added to her team-leading point total on the season with three more, including two more assists as she moves up Columbia's single season assists leaderboard.
The Lion defense held the Blue Devils under 50% on clears, just 12-26, their best mark this season, to go along with 31 turnovers. In addition, the back line stood strong all game allowing just 17 total shots, with 13 on goal.
Columbia will return home on Saturday for its final game at Kraft Field this season. The Lions will take on #24 Harvard at 1 p.m. and honor their seniors after the game.
For the latest on Columbia lacrosse, follow @CULionsLax on Twitter and Instagram, and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
