"Any time you give a team more chances than you should, there is always that fear that something will go wrong," junior forward Caitlin Costello said.

The Crimson mustered its first and only strike in the 19th minute when Costello netted her third goal of the season. Senior sweeper Brooke McCarthy initiated the play with a pass up the sideline to freshman midfielder Caitlin Fisher. Fisher then sent a booming ball into the box that deflected off a Columbia defender and found the foot of Costello, who fired it into the lower left corner of the goal.

The Crimson was not able to take any comfort in its lead, however, because the Lions responded just 29 seconds later with a quick strike that caught the Harvard defense in transition with just two players in the backfield.

After receiving a clearing pass from midfielder Ashley Clift, midfielder Jamie Pannone led forward Meredith Corkery with a good ball across the middle of the field. Meredith Corkery, who is the younger sister of Harvard's Lauren Corkery, raced past the Crimson defense and beat Harvard goalkeeper Cheryl Gunther with a shot into the far corner.

"Even after they scored that tying goal right after we scored, a lot of us still thought, 'Hey, this is Columbia, we'll be able to come back,'" Costello said. "We couldn't believe it when the game went to overtime."

While both teams threatened to break the tie in the second half, the Crimson had the two best opportunities to avoid an overtime session in the opening half.

In the 28th minute, senior midfielder Meredith Stewart fired a solid shot on net that bounced off the left post. The ricochet came right to Costello, but her attempt on goal was smothered by the sprawled-out Columbia keeper, Janine Ierardi.

Twelve minutes later, with the game knotted at one goal apiece, freshman back Lauren Cozzolino unleashed a screaming liner which Costello headed on goal. The redirect bounced off the left post and fell right to the foot of freshman midfielder Katie Westfall who was stationed well inside the box. Despite having an uncontested shot, Westfall sailed her kick well high of the net, and the game remained tied.