Box Score ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - To say the result was unlikely might be a bit of an understatement.

Thirteen of the 22 players on the Bard College men's soccer roster were not on the team last year. And 22 of the 22 players had never met the head coach until 24 hours before Friday night's game.

Chaos and uncertainty aside, they just went out and won the game.

In the debut for head coach Devon Tomson, who arrived from California on Thursday evening, the Raptors defeated Southern Vermont College on the strength of a brilliant goal from senior Oscar Valdes in the 67th minute.

Box score

Valdes took a pass to the left of the penalty area from junior Alex Sicurella, took a step to the outside to deke a defender, then stepped strong back toward the corner of the box, bending a right-footed shot over the outstretched hands of Mountaineers' keeper Christopher Dunham (Valley Falls, NY) and just inside the far post. It wasn't a lightning bolt, but a shot struck with finesse and accuracy, and it did the job.

Well, it did the job for the moment anyway. Southern Vermont missed a golden opportunity with 1:40 left in the contest when striker Pierre Massena (West Milford, NJ) broke away from a near collision with freshman keeper Daniel Gagne and freshman defender Silas Busch, but Massena missed a wide open net with a shot that just got away from him as he fell to his left.

Otherwise, the game was played relatively evenly, although Southern Vermont had the better of the scoring chances in the first half. Bard's other freshman keeper, Gabe Rudd, played with decisiveness and aggression, making three saves and keeping it scoreless at the break. Gagne made two saves in the second half to earn the win.

Southern Vermont outshot Bard, 14-12, and had a slight edge in corners (4-3). But Valdes produced the only edge that really mattered.

The Mountaineers (0-1) host Salve Regina on Sunday.

Bard, 1-0 for the first time since 2009, hosts SUNY Cobleskill on Saturday night at 7.