ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College women's soccer team defeated Sarah Lawrence College, 1-0, in a non-league opener on Sunday afternoon.

The game was played evenly in the first half, but Bard turned up the pressure in the second half, and it paid off.

"From the beginning of the match, we had some challenges with when to pressure as a team," said Kate Hofstede, who is new to Bard this year. "As time went on and they started to communicate better, we were much more successful is keeping possession longer and getting into an attacking rhythm."

The scoring play began at midfield, with Abby Frazier poking a loose ball away from two Sarah Lawrence players. Emma Kuntz ran onto it at full speed and burst down the left side, guiding a beautiful pass with the outside of her right foot on a diagonal to the other side of the box, where senior Claire Dickson put it away in the 58th minute.

Seymone Rosenberg made one save in the first half, and Madeline Chilton picked up the win with four saves in the second half.

"We were able to get a lot of players in," Hofstede said, "and it raised the level of energy in the game. From the goalkeeper all the way up to the forwards, we were limiting the other team's chances throughout."

Bard will participate in the Drew Fall Festival this coming weekend, playing Drew on Saturday, and Westfield State on Sunday.

"We going to continue to work on our defensive organization to deny goal-scoring opportunities, and to build our versatility so we can score more goals," Hostede said.