NEW YORK — For 86 minutes, the women's soccer team followed the recipe for knocking off a quality league opponent on the road, but Columbia equalized in the 87th minute before find the winner just 28 seconds into the second overtime for a 2-1 victory on Saturday night at Commisso Stadium.
 
Kaili Gregory scored the lone goal in the first half for Cornell (1-6-1, 0-1 Ivy League). It came after the Big Red's only corner kick of the night, and it was also the squad's lone shot attempt. In stark contrast, Columbia (4-4-1, 1-0) – which finished in second place in the Ivy League in 2017 – had 38. The neutralizing factor was Big Red goalkeeper Meghan Kennedy, who set a career high with 15 saves on the night. That number is also tied for fifth-most in a single game in program history, and the most since Katie Thomas stopped a program record-tying 17 shots against Stony Brook on Oct. 1, 2001.
 
Though the Lions held a territorial advantage in the first half, Kennedy wasn't tested severely – and the Big Red scraped out a goal. It came in the 24th minute, after Aidan Julia Reineman played a ball off a defender to earn a corner kick.
 
Jessica Ritchie made the service from the right side, with Gregory gaining control on the bounce. Her second touch from about 15 yards sent the ball inside the far post for the Big Red's first first-half goal of the season. It was Gregory's second goal of the season and third of the central defender's career. The goal was also Cornell's first goal in a Columbia home game since 2008, ending that particular shutout streak at exactly 393 minutes.
 
The second half saw Cornell absorb a ferocious Columbia attack, desperately searching for an equalizer. The Lions outshot the Big Red by a whopping 25-0 margin over the 45 minutes, which is when Kennedy made a handful of stellar saves.
 
First, it was a dive to her right to swat away Emily Koe's shot from 15 yards in the 48th minute. In the 79th minute, Emma Anderson turned and fired from 24 yards to force Kennedy's dive to the left.
 
The barrage continued in the 83rd from point-blank range, with Kennedy charging out to stop Cayla Davis at the top of 6-yard box, then lunging to her left to thwart Anderson on the rebound. Just a minute later, Jessica Schildkraut got off a shot from the penalty spot that Kennedy stopped with a sprawl to her right.
 
But with all hands on the figurative offensive deck, the Lions broke through with 3 minutes, 40 seconds left in regulation. Jordyn Geller had a shot blocked in the box, and Rachel Alexander cleaned up the rebound to force overtime.
 
Cornell got off its heels in the first overtime period, but the game ended just 28 seconds into the second. A cross deflected into the box for Maddie Temares to convert for the winner.
 
The Big Red returns home for its next Ivy League contest, hosting Penn at 4 p.m. Saturday at Berman Field in Ithaca.