Soccer Enjoys Strong Men’s, Women’s Seasons

Second place finishes in the Ivy League highlighted strong 2017 seasons for both Columbia’s men’s and women’s soccer teams. The men’s team won 12 games overall and earned a berth in the NCAA championships, with Arthur Bosua ’18 repeating as Ivy Offensive Player of the Year, while the women’s team garnered a program-record eight All-Ivy honors with Natalie Ambrose ’18 being named Ivy Defensive Player of the Year.

Second-team All-American Arthur Bosua ’18 celebrates one of his career-high four goals against Harvard on November 5.

Mike McLaughlin / Columbia Athletics

Both teams excelled at the defensive end of the pitch, with the women allowing just one goal and the men two goals in seven Ivy League matches. But those goals, plus a tie by each team, were enough to keep them from wearing Ivy crowns.

The men finished at 12–3–3 overall and 5–1–1 in the Ivies, with an outstanding 21–2 goal differential against league opponents. But after a scoreless tie at Princeton, the Lions allowed both those goals in a 2–1 road loss against league champion Dartmouth and ended up a half-game behind the Big Green. They received an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament, where they beat William & Mary 2–1 in double overtime on November 16 before losing 1–0 at Wake Forest three days later.

The team was led by Bosua and goalkeeper Dylan Castanheira ’19. Bosua topped the Ivies with 12 goals and 29 points, while Castanheira posted 11 shutouts and compiled a goals-against average of 0.43, third-best in the nation. Bosua and Castanheira were joined on the All-Ivy first team by defender Alex Bangerl ’18, midfielder/forward John Denis ’20 and midfielder Vana Markarian ’20, while defender Blake Willis ’21 was a second team choice and midfielder Danny Laranetto ’20 received honorable mention.

The women compiled a 9–5–2 overall record and 5–1–1 league mark. They lost to Yale 1–0 on October 28, and a scoreless tie against Harvard the following week left the Lions a half-game behind Princeton.

Ambrose, the first player in school history to garner Ivy Defensive Player of the Year honors, was joined on the All-Ivy first team by midfielder Natalie Neshat ’18, Columbia’s leading scorer with nine goals. Second-team honors went to forwards Emma Anderson ’19 and Amaris Hemmings ’19, defender Amalya Johnson ’20 and goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse ’19. Forward Emily Koe ’20 and defender Reilly Lucas ’19 received honorable mention.