Box Score
NEW YORK—Columbia posted its fifth shutout in the last six games, blanking NJIT, 2-0, Tuesday night at women's soccer at Columbia Soccer Stadium.
Columbia (6-3-2), which began its near-unblemished defensive run with a 2-0 win over UAlbany on September 20, followed that with a whitewash of Fairleigh Dickinson. The goalless run ended with a 2-0 loss at Ivy League foe Cornell, but resumed with a shutout of LIU Brooklyn, a scoreless Ivy League tie vs. Brown, and now, the clean sheet against NJIT (4-9).
Going back before the UAlbany game, Columbia didn't allow a goal in the last 29:38 of a 2-2 tie at North Florida on September 15. Since yielding the second goal at North Florida, Columbia has surrendered 2 goals in 590 minutes, for a goals against average of 0.31 over the last 6-plus games and four different women have played in goal for the Lions during the stretch.
NJIT, meanwhile, wrapped up a slate of five consecutive road contests with the loss at Columbia in a game that was postponed a day in order to avoid the rain and wind that came through Monday night with the weather front that produced ideal conditions on Tuesday. The Highlanders went 1-4 on the road swing, getting their only win on October 4 at Delaware State, 3-0.
Columbia scored once in each half, with Phoenetia Browne finding the mark first, at 37:19, assisted by Beverly Leon. Leon also helped on the second goal, feeding Elly McGuffog in the 72nd minute. Brown's goal was her second of the year, while McGuffog's was her third.
Leon, 2nd-team All-Ivy as a junior in 2012, ended the day with a team-leading 6 assists for Columbia.
Columbia used two goalkeepers. Junior Jourdan Sayers, in her first start since 2011, played the first half and didn't need a save to keep her sheet clean. Junior Grace Redmon, an honorable mention All-Ivy pick last season, came on after the break and made one save in 45 minutes.
While it was Columbia notching the shutout, sophomore keeper
Samantha Bersett stood tall for the Highlanders, making a season-high 12 saves, three shy of her personal-best 15 as a freshman against Utah Valley just over a year ago (October 5, 2012).
The final statistics showed Columbia with bulging 20-2 advantage in total shots, including 14-1 in shots-on-goal.
The Highlanders' shots came from
Amanda Redden, whose try in the 83rd minute was on-frame, producing the Redmon save, and from sophomore
Alex Adam, whose attempt was wide in the 14th minute. Leon and Browne each had four total shots for Columbia, while Melo's four on-target tries were game-high.
NJIT will happily return home to play four of the last six games on the 2013 schedule, beginning Sunday at 5 pm, when the Highlanders host South Carolina State on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
NJIT is 2-3 this season in home contests, having topped VMI and Rider in mid-September before embarking on the just-completed stretch of five away games.
The all-time series vs. South Carolina State is even at 4-4-1. NJIT prevailed 1-0 last October 20 in Newark, scoring the winning goal just 5 seconds before the end of the second overtime period.
