With just 38 seconds remaining in the contest, senior midfielder Orna Madigan converted on a free-position shot to ultimately give Columbia women's lacrosse a season-opening 13-12 victory over the visiting Siena Saints at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium on Saturday afternoon. "Today was a great day for us to learn about who we are and what we really need to work on to have a successful season," said fourth-year Columbia head coach Andrea Cofrin. "I was impressed with how strong we started the second half and I'm happy we were able to come out with the win after trailing by two with five minutes left." Three different Columbia players recorded multiple goals, led by sophomore attacker Alexandria Absey who scored four goals in the outing. In all, eight different Lions had goals against the Saints. The season-opener started off slow, with neither team netting a goal in the first five minutes of action. With 16:01 to go in the first half, senior midfielder Lindsey Ewertsen scored off an assist from Chelsea Witteck to put the Lions up 3-1, but Siena (0-1) responded with four-straight goals to take a 5-3 advantage into the locker room. Less than a minute had run off the clock in the second half before the Lions evened things up at 5-5 with senior attacker Emily Manville and Absey scoring two quick goals. The scoring continued to go back and forth, with the Saints taking a 12-10 lead with 5:42 remaining in the game. The Lions put their heads down and went to work, chipping away at the lead as the clock ticked down and ultimately scoring the final three goals in the matchup. Absey lessened Siena's lead to 12-11 on a man-up opportunity, before Ewertsen evened things up with 2:38 to play give Madigan the chance to score the game-winner. First-year Ryan Schlageter recorded her first win in goal, playing the entire second half and making four crucial saves. Fellow rookies Katie Lutz and Rachel Graff each sent in their first career goals for the Columbia blue and white. Sophomore midfielder Alison Schwasnick led the Lions with a career-high seven draw controls, while Ewertsen tacked on four draw controls of her own after setting the Columbia single-season record of 76 last season. The Lions will be back in action for a midweek game against Fairfield on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 3 p.m. before heading west next weekend to take on Arizona State and San Diego State in Tempe, Arizona.