NEW YORK -- The Columbia lacrosse team returns home on Saturday afternoon for its final home game of the 2024 season. The Lions will take on #24 Harvard at 1 p.m. at Robert K. Kraft Field, and look to pick up their first Ivy League win of the year. Following the conclusion of the game, Columbia will honor its five seniors in a senior day ceremony.
LAST TIME OUT
Earlier this week, the Lions closed out the out-of-conference portion of their schedule and picked up a big 17-8 win over CCSU in New Britain, Connecticut.
Columbia led wire-to-wire, and with the victory, the Lions secured their second road win of the year and improved to 4-4 in non-conference games on the season. This marks the first time since 2017 Columbia finished .500 or better in non-Ivy League games.
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.
Overall, a season-high 10 different Lions found the back of the net, led by
Cordelia Flemming who had four on the evening.
Noelle DeMarinis notched her first career hat trick, while
Michelle Zhai added to her team-leading point total on the season with three more on the day.
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE
The defensive end of the field has been a focus for Head Coach
Anne Murray ever since she took over the Columbia lacrosse program. Despite playing in one of the toughest conferences in the nation, the results are starting to speak for themselves.
The Lions currently rank 11th in the entire NCAA (and second in the Ivy League) in ground balls per game with 20. Columbia is led by goalkeeper
Ava Kimche with 28 on the season, and
Dani Falcone with 23. Five different Columbia players have over 20 ground balls this season.
In addition, the Lions currently rank 17th in the nation (and second in the Ivy League) with 10.15 caused turnovers per game. Columbia is led by sophomore defender
Alison Surace in the category, while six different Lions have double-figure caused turnovers on the season.
MILESTONE WATCH
Last week against Dartmouth,
Dani Falcone picked up a draw control in the third quarter which was the 114th of her career. This moved her into fourth place all-time on Columbia's draw control list. She currently has 38 this season, and one more will see her crack the top-10 list for single season draw controls.
Falcone is also close to another huge milestone, needing just six more points to score her 100th career point.
Meanwhile,
Michelle Zhai is having a rookie season to remember. Not only does she lead the team in points and assists as a first-year, her 22 assists are the seventh-most all-time in a single season in Columbia history. She has a real shot of top-five in that category, and maybe even the top-three with just two games left.
SCOUTING HARVARD
#24 Harvard enters Saturday's game with a 9-3 overall record, and a 3-2 record in the Ivy League.
Last time out, the Crimson picked up a 13-2 win over Stonehill College. They have won four of their last five games, with the lone loss coming to #10 Yale.
Harvard is led by Callie Hem and Riley Campbell who are both approaching 50 goals on the season and are looking to become one of two duos in the NCAA with 50+ goals on the season. Caroline Mullahy has an impressive 42 assists on the season and is nearing the program's single season assist record of 48. Maddie Barkate leads the team with 89 draw controls on the year.
Last season, Harvard defeated Columbia 19-4 in Cambridge.
SENIOR DAY
Following the conclusion of Saturday's game, the Lions will honor their five seniors in a senior day ceremony.
Columbia's five seniors are
Julia Sullivan,
Lizzie Kaplan,
Sophie Zachara,
Ellie Eisner, and
Lauren Yun. Be sure to stick around after the game for the entire ceremony.
ON DECK
Columbia will close out the 2024 season with a game against #10 Yale in New Haven next Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
All Columbia home games and all Ivy League contests will be streamed via ESPN+. You can find tomorrow's game
HERE.
Live stats will be available via gocolumbialions.com,
HERE.
For the latest on Columbia lacrosse, follow @CULionsLax on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook at Facebook.com/ColumbiaLax and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
