ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College men's soccer team lost to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2-0, in the Liberty League opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon.

The game was scoreless well into the second half, but RPI scored two goals about 100 seconds apart in the 75th and 76th minutes. Gavin Hersey made five saves for Bard.

"We defended extremely well, and we didn't pack it in," Bard coach TJ Kostecky said. "We were extremely organized defensively, and our back line was tight on compact and RPI wasn't able to do what they wanted to do.

"In the second half, they started playing the ball long into the corners," Kostecky said. "It's a compliment to the way our team played that they changed what they were doing. They decided to try to beat us with speed and athleticism as opposed to the soccer part."

Bard has another test coming up at Vassar on Wednesday.

"There was more progress and improvement here than we had in the previous four wins," Kostecky said. "It's demonstrates that we are a very capable team."