Under clear skies on Saturday afternoon, Brown women’s soccer (5-3-5, 2-1-2 Ivy) held the league-leading Columbia Lions (6-3-4, 4-0-1 Ivy) to a 1-1 draw at Stevenson-Pincince Field.
In a back-and-forth affair, Brown opened the scoring in the fifteenth minute on a goal line scramble finished by Ella Weil ’28. Midway through the second half, a defensive mistake led to Columbia’s equalizer. Neither team was able to find a winning shot.
Columbia is a “well coached team with a lot of seniors, so I thought we played really well,” Head Coach Kia McNeill said. “We executed our game plan, our press worked really well, and I thought we were able to turn them over in key moments of the game.”
The opening minutes featured a flurry of activity and high pressure from both teams’ forward units. Less than ten minutes into the match, Columbia’s forward Nata Ramirez was played through on goal and beat Brown keeper Bella Schopp ’26, but the shot rebounded off the crossbar before falling safely to the feet of a Brown defender.
Brown responded almost instantly, winning back possession higher up the pitch numerous times and generating opportunities in the opposing box. Following a throw-in with 30 minutes to go in the first half, Layla Shell ’26 struck a magnificent attempt from outside the box that hit the crossbar. The ball bounced kindly for Brown, falling to Ella Weil ’28, who was able to bundle the ball over the line while battling multiple Lions defenders.
“I thought Layla Shell hit that (shot) well, and I was almost already celebrating,” Weil said. “Once it hit the crossbar, it’s whoever gets there first, and I tried my hardest to be in the right position.”
“Ella has been incredible for us all season,” Coach McNeill said. “She’s a freshman that doesn't play like a freshman. She scored a tremendous goal and had a couple other good looks on goal. She’s definitely somebody that I think is a candidate for Rookie of the Year in the conference.”
The tempo settled down following the goal as both teams attempted to avoid making a mistake. McNeill made six substitutions within the opening half. “I think the way we play is very up-tempo, upbeat. It’s hard to sustain that for 45 minutes, let alone 90 minutes,” Coach McNeill said. “I think we do have a lot of depth with this group. Being able to sub and not have the quality of the game drop is really important for us.”
Following halftime, the Lions came out with the upper hand, generating the first few opportunities but no clear-cut shots on net with the Bears’ defense holding strong. But as the ball fell to a Brown fullback, no one was ready for her pass back across the defense. Columbia’s Sophia Cavaliere capitalized — latching onto the misplayed ball, she burst past the lunging tackle of Kyra Treanor ’28 before rounding Schopp and passing the ball into the open net.
Columbia’s goal extended their streak of scoring in each of their previous seven games. “They play a very similar formation to us, attacking with the two up top and then the five overload in the midfield,” Naya Cardoza ’26 said. “When they send those attacking midfielders in and the wingers in, it becomes an overload on our three-back. That’s what makes it difficult.”
The final twenty-five minutes of the game saw both teams generate chances, but no one was able to finish them. Brown benefited from the dynamic runs and energetic pressing of Ayla Sahin ’28 as they sought a winning shot.
When the game reached its conclusion at the 90-minute mark, Brown had extended its home unbeaten streak to six games, having notched four wins and two draws in Providence this season. Meanwhile, Columbia — who upset Bruno as the four seed in the first-round of the Ivy Tournament last season — has yet to be defeated in conference play this fall.
“We’re fighting for the playoffs,” Cardoza said. “We want to make sure that every team knows that we're here to compete game in and game out, and we're just riding off of that.”
The women’s soccer team will be back in action at home on Saturday against Cornell (3-7-4, 2-3 Ivy).
“We can take a lot from this game, but also we need to move on and focus on Cornell,” Weil said. “We just need to keep the energy going.”
