But eventually, Marlana Cresanti made her presence felt.

The Trojans’ senior leading scorer netted her seventh goal of the season with 17:11 remaining and senior Lucy Brown tacked on an insurance goal as Southwestern beat the Panthers 2-0 in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 action at the Fran Sirianni Athletic Complex.

Southwestern improved to 4-1-0 overall and 3-0-0 in the league to take a half-game edge on Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove. Portville fell to 1-1-0 overall and in the league. The shutout was the second clean sheet of the year for the Trojans, who opened their season with a 3-0 nonleague victory over Pioneer.

“I think the team’s defensive concept today … helped us control the game, especially as it went on,” Southwestern head coach Derek Houser said.

Southwestern’s Avery Johnson (19) attempts to get away from Portville’s Grace Gariepy during Thursday’s game at the Fran Sirianni Athletic Complex. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

The key for the Trojans on Thursday was keeping Portville’s Grace Gariepy in check. The junior scored 33 goals and added five assists en route to being named the CCAA Division 2 Most Valuable Player a year ago.

“You have to know where she is and you know it’s going to run through her,” Houser said. “She’s going to have the ball, she’s going to make moves and she’s going to get by people … but there wasn’t a lot of her just running free.”

Southwestern’s back line of M’Kenzie Zavala, Kait Rogers, Olivia Goeckel and Charlotte Beaver were more than up to the task, fending off most of the Panthers’ attacks and keeping any shot attempts at a distance from senior goalkeeper Braya Beaver.

“I thought it was the best game they’ve played. They were very well organized and they kept everything in front,” Houser said of his defense. “(Portville) had the ball and they were able to play some, but we were able to dictate where it went. I thought that was a great job on their part.”

Southwestern carried the play for most of the first half, but was unable to penetrate the Portville defense. The Trojans’ best chance to score came in the 12th minute when Cresanti sent a shot just over the crossbar.

Southwestern’s Kenzie Rogers, right, and Portville’s Nazara Degolier battle for possession during Thursday’s CCAA Division 1 girls soccer game at the Fran Sirianni Athletic Complex. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

The Panthers responded well in the first 20 minutes of the second half, but eventually Southwestern broke through. In the 53rd minute, Avery Johnson passed to Cresanti, who found a little space down the right side of the offense and just when it looked like she was going to run out of room near the end line, made a sliding poke at the ball and sent it just inside the far post of the Portville goal for a 1-0 lead.

“The thing about Marlana is that pretty much anything is a scoring chance,” Houser said. ” … She got that corner and when she first got to the ball, I wasn’t thinking back of the net, but as the play developed it was looking very good.”

“I was fortunate enough to see her in the Corporate Cup in the summer and I thought ‘she’s going to be a problem in the fall,’ and we’re going to get her twice,” Portville head coach Mike Matz said of Cresanti. ” … It’s not like we’re focused just on her, but she makes them go. She’s a really good player and you just can’t give really good players any opportunities.”

Five minutes later, with the Panthers pressing for a tying goal, Mikaela Luce found Brown open at the top of the 18-yard box and the senior was able to send a right-footed shot just inside the post to the right of Portville’s goalkeeper for a 2-0 lead.

“It was a well-placed ball. We were able to use some of their aggression at that point,” Houser said. “It was a smart pass, Lucy drifted into space and made them pay.”

That held up as the final tally with the Trojans continuing to turn away every Panthers’ attack.

“Finishing in the final third is always the biggest trick,” Matz said. “We had to change formations a little bit in the second half and move some pieces around. I thought we played really well considering the changes we made in the game.”

Olean will be the next opponent for both teams with the Huskies visiting Portville on Monday and the Trojans traveling to Olean on Wednesday.

“Part of the motivation to join this league was for games like the one against Fredonia, like the one tonight. It’s fine to win regular-season games, but we want to make a run in the fall,” Matz said. “The idea here is to play really good teams with really good coaches … looking at the long game from mid- to late October.”