ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The way the game was going, it was either going to be a fluke goal or a thing of beauty that decided Thursday's women's soccer match between Vassar and Bard.

The wind was whipping, rain was falling in sheets - sometimes horizontally - and the match was a see-saw affair played mostly at midfield with scoring opportunities coming few and far between.

Then Vassar came up with a thing of beauty.

Freshman Sarah Bourenane (Carrollton, TX) collected a loose ball about 25 yards from goal in the 66th minute of a scoreless game and struck a high, hard shot that got over the hands of Bard keeper Lena James, struck the bottom of the crossbar hard, and landed about two feet behind the goal line.

It turned out to be enough, because Bard could not get anything out of the few scoring opportunities it had. Vassar outshot Bard, 12-7, and the Raptors never really tested Vassar's backup keeper, Lily Lanier (Brookline, MA).

Vassar is 7-7-1 overall and 2-4-1 in the Liberty League.

James made eight saves for Bard (3-11, 0-6 Liberty), which next plays on Saturday at 6 p.m. at RPI.