NEW YORK – Columbia women's soccer returned to New York City this week, but quickly was back on the road for a quick trip to Queens to take on St. John's Thursday evening. Both defenses held strong the first half, but a Maia Beltran strike in the 52nd minute helped lead the Lions to a 1-0 victory.
Columbia (1-4-0) earned its first victory of 2025 behind a great defensive effort led by a back line of
Nosa Omorogbe, Justina Blitzer,
Leila Hawkins, and
Dema Elder who did not let up a shot on goal all night.
Despite the offensive struggles, the Red Storm (2-2-0) remained in the match thanks to great goalkeeping from Kayla Bowser who had four saves in the contest.
The Lions had two great chances in the first half. The first came from
Maia Tabion in the 31st minute, who controlled a loose ball at the top of the box and fired at the bottom left of the goal, but Bower was in perfect position and reeled it in.
Then in the 42nd minute,
Gabby Chan had another great opportunity but once again Bower was in a great spot and made a clutch save to keep the match scoreless heading into halftime.
Columbia finally broke through in the 52nd minute, when
Lillie Hutchings found Beltran at the top of the box who then curled one right past Bower to put the Lions in front.
Evelyn Javers had a chance to extend the lead in the 78th, with a chip shot nearly over the goalies head. Bower did an excellent job to punch it over the goal and keep the Red Storm's deficit at just one. Ultimately, it wouldn't matter as Columbia's defense held strong to preserve the 1-0 win.
ON DECK
Columbia will look to make it two wins in a row then the squad returns to Commisso on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. against La Salle.
The Lions' full 2025 schedule can be found HERE.
For the latest on the Columbia women's soccer program, follow @CULionsWSOC on X, Instagram, Facebook at Facebook.com/ColumbiaWSoccer and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
