FREDONIA — In a closely contested matchup, Fredonia and Southwestern played through 100 minutes with neither team finding the back of the net in a scoreless draw at Fredonia State University.

Though the result for each side was the same, each team left the pitch feeling quite differently.

“It was very toughly fought by both sides,” Southwestern head coach Derek Houser said. “I thought we brought a really good energy to the match. … We just couldn’t find a way to put it in the back of the net tonight.”

Southwestern (4-1-1) left feeling frustrated, as time and time again, Fredonia goalkeeper Kelly Gullo was in position to make a save on the Trojans’ attempts from just outside the top of the box.

Fredonia (1-2-1) however, left feeling proud of its second shutout of the season, holding one of the top teams of the league in check.

“I’m not frustrated at all, I’m actually ecstatic,” Fredonia head coach Brett Gould said. “Every team, every year at the beginning of the season, we spend our time trying to find our identity. … Tonight, through regulation and double overtime, we got to watch kids grow up all over the place.”

Fredonia had its first solid scoring opportunity in the 15th minute, as a shot by Paige Supkoski went just wide of the net after she was set up to make a run by a throw-in from Kazlin Beers. Southwestern had the possession near midfield for the majority of the rest of the first half.

In the second half, Southwestern began to get shots on net, but Gullo was positioned to make the save nearly every time.

Fortunately for Fredonia, the only time she wasn’t in perfect position — with 19:12 left in the second half as Southwestern’s Mia Delong split the Fredonia defenders — the shot went just wide of the post. Southwestern had another prime opportunity in the second half, as the Trojans were set up with a free kick just outside of the box with under a minute to go after a foul. Gullo was there to make the save and time ran out of regulation shortly after.

Just as Southwestern did, Fredonia had its own stellar chance to score as the game progressed to the first of two 10-minute overtime periods. Supkoski received a bouncing pass in the box on a full sprint and shot quickly, without the benefit of settling the ball down. The difficult shot was met by one of many saves on the day by Southwestern’s goalkeeper, Brynne Conley — who was pressed into action as the game’s keeper because of an injury to Hanna Johnson.

In the end, both teams came away with a draw, but both can move forward looking to build off the impressive defensive showing they showed Tuesday night. The Hillbillies have another showdown at Dunkirk while Southwestern travels to Olean on Thursday.