NEW YORK – The Columbia lacrosse team went to battle against the Sacred Heart Pioneers in the team's home opener at Kraft Field on Saturday afternoon, but it was the Pioneers who came from behind to stun the Lions late, 11-10, in a game that came down to the very last second. 
 
With the loss, Columbia drops to 2-2 on the season. Meanwhile, Sacred Heart earned its first win of the season to improve to 1-3.
 
Columbia opened the scoring with senior captain Dani Falcone finding the back of the net less than five minutes into the game to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. Ellie Taylor followed it up with a goal of her own at the 7:51 mark off of a pass from Falcone to extend the lead to 2-0. Sacred Heart responded with a goal of their own, but Cordelia Flemming would answer just a over a minute later to give Columbia a 3-1 lead. Sacred Heart then scored its second goal of the game with under two minutes remaining in the first quarter to cut Columbia's lead to 3-2. Anna Becker would respond with a goal with just eight seconds remaining in the period to give the Lions a 4-2 lead after one quarter of action.
 
The second quarter was a low scoring affair, with just three goals being scored in the frame. Sacred Heart captured the first goal of the period, but the Lions responded with goals from Cecilia Messner and Falcone, both assisted by Michelle Zhai, to give Columbia a 6-3 heading into the locker room.
 
The third quarter, however, is where Sacred Heart was able to steal the momentum. The Pioneers scored the first goal of the quarter to cut the Columbia lead to 6-4. After Messner scored her second goal of the game to extend the lead back to three, Sacred Heart scored the final two goals of the third quarter to cut the Lions' lead to 7-6 heading into the final period.
 
Sacred Heart tied the game at 7-7 just one minute into the fourth quarter, which was the first tie since the game was 0-0 at the beginning of the game. Taylor responded with her second goal of the game just a minute later at the 13:05 mark as the Lions retook the lead 8-7. The Pioneers then scored three unanswered goals to take a 10-8 lead midway through the period. Falcone scored her third goal of the game with 2:13 remaining to cut the Pioneers lead to 10-9. After draining the shot and game clock, Sacred Heart answered with another goal with just 50 seconds left to extend its lead back to two goals and give them some insurance. Becker scored her second goal of the game with 12 seconds left to make it a one goal contest, but Sacred Heart won the final draw and was able to run out the clock.
 
Faclone led the way for the Lions' offense with three goals. Messner, Becker, and Taylor each added two goals of their own, and Flemming had one to round out the 10 Columbia scores in the contest. Zhai added three assists for the second consecutive game.
 
On the defensive end, Messner, Taylor and Ali Surace were tied for the team lead in ground balls, with three apiece. Flemming and Julie Griswold each had two caused turnovers. Ava Kimche gave up eight goals while making eight saves.

The Lions fell despite winning the draw control battle by a 14-9 margin. The Lions did turn it over two more times than Sacred Heart, with the Pioneers winning the turnover battle 16-14. Columbia had a slim advantage in ground balls, 21-20, and in shots-on-goal, also 21-20.
 
Columbia is back home on Wednesday for another non-conference game as they host the Marist Red Foxes. Opening draw is set for 4:00 p.m.
 
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