BOX SCORE

NEW YORK - Nick Scott scored his second goal of the season in the 15th minute of the game, but Providence would even the score midway through the second half, as the Columbia men's soccer team tied the Friars, 1-1, Tuesday night.

Tuesday’s game was a tale of two halves, with the Lions primarily controlling play in the opening half. Providence challenged Columbia goalkeeper Michael Attal on a pair of occasions early, but the junior from Tampa, Fla. made nice stops on both attempts.

Columbia’s ball possession took control about eight minutes into the action and paid off in the 15th minute with the first tally of the game. Kofi Agyapong made a nice play on the ball about 30 yards out, worked his way around one defender before feeding a quick pass to Scott in the middle of the box. Scott made a short touch on the ball and then fired it into the right side of the goal past the Friar’s net-minder.

Brendan O’Hearn had a quality opportunity to add to the Columbia lead in the 25th minute, but his header attempt off a Henning Sauerbier corner kick missed just wide.

Providence would go on to outshoot Columbia in the opening half, 7-4, but the Lions used quality spacing and passing to control the pace of play.

In the second stanza, with Columbia using the full plethora of talent on its bench, the momentum of the game seemed to shift in favor of Providence as the Lions struggled to mesh as they had in opening 45 minutes. The Friars would rattle off nine shots in the half, including the equalizer in the 74th minute.

Providence used multiple touch passes to the right corner of the penalty area to create enough separation in the Columbia defense to give Wilder Arboleda the spacing he needed to slip a shot between Attal and the near post.

Attal made a nice stop just minutes later, stopping a Matt Barry attempt off a corner to preserve the tie. The final 10 minutes would elapse without a shot for either side, forcing overtime.

The Columbia offense used the short intermission to regroup, leading to a couple productive rushes in the first overtime. Antonio Matarazzo would fire the first shot of the extra period, but his attempt missed wide. Just under two minutes later, Agyapong had a clear sight line to the goal from about 25 yards out, but Keasel Broome made the save for Providence.

The second extra period would also pass without a game-clincher, giving each team its second tie of the season.

Columbia returns to Ivy League play Saturday against Princeton. The game is the first in a doubleheader that will feature the women’s teams from Columbia and Princeton in the night cap. The men are set to kick-off at 4 p.m. with the Lions and Tigers each looking to stay in the top half of the Ivy League standings with a victory.