In a hard-fought game on Saturday, the women’s lacrosse team (6-5, 2-2 Ivy) delivered a strong showing against Columbia (6-6, 0-4) on the Lions’ home field. Tied 12-12 with six seconds left, midfielder Ruby Sliwkowski ’27 scored a game-winning goal for the Bears.
Saturday’s triumph — the Bears’ second Ivy win — leaves Brown No. 5 in the Ivy League. Columbia, on the other hand, remains winless in the league this season at 0-4 — another tough start for a team that has not secured an Ivy League win since 2019.
The teams opened the game by trading goals. With a little over five minutes to go in the first quarter, midfielder Mackenzie Farley ’29 spun around the Lions’ Katelyn Lee of the Lions and passed out to attacker Kiki Tormey ’26, who then drove down the middle and sent the ball soaring into the goal to bring the Bears up 3-1.
But Columbia fought back less than a minute later with back-to-back goals by Maddie Brogan and Lilah Kirch to tie the score 3-3, despite strong defense from the Bears.
Columbia’s barrage didn’t stop in the second quarter. Following a well-executed free position goal from Tormey, the Lions’ Cordelia Flemming caught the ball from teammate Cecelia Messner and confidently shot it over Brown’s defense to once again tie the score.
The Lions extended their run with two quick goals by Messner and Emma Row, leading to a 3-0 Lions run in less than five minutes. Sliwkowski ended their scoring run with a free position shot, but the Lions returned the favor with another free position shot from Flemming, bringing Columbia up 7-5 at halftime.
In the second half, the Bears came out ready to make up the deficit. After winning the initial draw, the Bears pushed up the field, and attacker Tessie Batchelder ’29 scored off an assist from Sliwkowski.
A violation on the next draw by Messner resulted in a green card, giving Brown possession. With an extra player on the field, the Bears capitalized on their advantage and defender Riley Peterson ’28 ripped a laser over the Lions’ goalkeeper to tie the game at 7-7.
From here, Columbia’s defense started to collapse, and the momentum swung in the Bears’ favor. Brown went on to score three more goals, bringing the Bears’ lead to 10-7. Over the 5-0 stretch, Sliwkowski and Tormey each completed hat tricks.
With the tide swinging against them, the Lions refused to back down. In the next possession, Columbia’s Anna Becker quickly responded with a quick shot to the top-left corner of the net, ending the Lions’ scoreless run. After that, each team notched an additional goal, bringing it to 11-9 in the Bears’ favor by the end of the third quarter.
Becker kept the momentum going for the Lions in the fourth quarter, leading a late-game resurgence for the team. The Bears responded with Becker’s goal with a goal by midfielder Marley Wright ’26, but Beckers one-upped the Bears with her fourth and fifth goals of the day, tying the score 12-12 with a little less than nine minutes remaining.
In the final stretch, the two teams traded possessions, but both sides kept up stalwart defenses. Neither team could find the net until the final possession.
With just over thirty seconds left, Farley threw a grounder that was deftly picked up by Kiki Tormey. The Bears probed the Lions’ defense, looking for an opening — until Sliwkowski found a gap between two defenders, charged and rattled it home, putting the Bears up 13-12 with six seconds left. The Lions were unable to respond in time, sealing the game for Brown.
Many of the Bears had strong showings on Saturday. Sliwkowski notched a team-high four goals, including the game-winning shot, and dished out two more assists. Farley had a game-high three assists, and Tormey put up a hat trick. Goalkeeper Mackenzie Conway ’29 had an impressive 12 saves as the team’s defensive anchor.
The Bears look to extend their two-game winning streak against Dartmouth (6-5, 1-3) this upcoming Saturday.
