Columbia Defeats Princeton at Home

In a match that saw Columbia overcome an 8-3 Princeton lead at halftime, the Lions managed to pick up a win at home in a match at New York City's Randall's Island. The game started slow, with sloppy play on both sides leading to a low-scoring, physical, defensive first half.

Princeton took an early lead on a conversion, but only a few short minutes later Columbia's Peter Calello evened the score with a converted kick of his own. Taha Wiheba took a costly penalty on a high tackle shortly thereafter and Princeton capitalized, putting a try on the board and taking an 8-3 lead into the half.

The break in action seemed to reinvigorate both sides, and they traded tries to bring the score to 10-13. After this point, Columbia turned it on offensively, going on a 12-2 run to take a 22-15 lead that would hold up for the rest of the game even though Princeton kept it close. The final score of 24-20 should tell you that both sides played excellent rugby, but Columbia capitalized on their home field advantage to come through with the W.

Both teams will play this coming weekend against Ivy Rugby Conference Foes. Princeton will enjoy home field advantage against an undefeated Cornell side, and Columbia will travel to Penn in one of the two New York/Philadelphia sporting matchups of the day.