A few sat on the ground with their heads in their hands while some consoled each other with embraces and others just stared ahead blankly.

Following its 2-0 loss to visiting Columbia last Saturday night in an Ivy League first-place showdown, the members of the Princeton University women’s soccer team appeared shellshocked as they came to grips with the reality of the defeat.

Entering the evening at 11-1, riding a five-game winning streak, and having risen to No. 11 in the national rankings, the proud Tigers were stunned by a 97-second sequence in the first half when Columbia scored goals on rebounds at 9:13 and 10:50 to grab a 2-0 lead it never relinquished.

Having rallied to a 2-1 victory at Brown with two late goals a week earlier, the shoe was on the other foot for Princeton against the Lions.

“When you give up two goals early in the game, you allow a team to do whatever they need to do to win; they put all of the onus on us,” said Princeton head coach Sean Driscoll, whose team dropped to 11-2 overall and 3-1 Ivy while Columbia improved to 8-4-1 overall and 4-0 Ivy.

“It wasn’t from a lack of effort on our end. Soccer is a funny game. They came on the road and won a huge game, credit to them. It was a game for first place and they found a way.”

Princeton battled furiously to get on the scoreboard, outshooting Columbia 21-12, generating some point-blank chances in the second half but it was to no avail.

“We played well; we had 10 corner kicks and they had zero so that gives you an idea where the ball was the majority of the game,” said Driscoll.

“But the reality is this — you create your chances and you need to make your chances. Their goalie [Sophie Whitehouse] was tremendous; she made some really good saves. She made three or four off the top of my head that were exceptional. They defended valiantly, they didn’t give us any clear shots. They made it very difficult to break down.”

While the defeat stung, the Tigers still have a shot at the Ivy title with three league games remaining and are very much in the running for an at-large spot in the NCAA tournament if they don’t win the league.

“We lost a game but we are 11-2 and we have had a fantastic season,” said Driscoll, whose team plays at Harvard (7-7 overall, 1-3 Ivy) on October 21.

“The season doesn’t end. It is one loss and we need to respond; that is what Monday is about. It is time to find out what the character of this team is and that demands a response on Monday.”

Driscoll, for his part, believes in the character of his battle-tested squad.

“We are a senior-laden team that works supremely hard and leads by example,” said Driscoll.

“You can’t do what you did all year this year and all of a sudden just fall off. I think they will respond. They are a wonderful group. They work very, very hard.”