The Hillbillies would pick up a game-tying goal with less than 10 minutes to play, forcing the Trojans to get the job done in overtime via a 2-1 final off the boot of Simon Pirello.

The win has Southwestern (7-4, 6-0) rebound from a one-goal loss to Westfield/Brocton to stay atop the CCAA West Division while Fredonia (3-3-2, 3-1-2) snaps a four-game unbeaten streak.

With 12 minutes remaining in regulation, the Hillbillies sensed a chance to even things up with a good offensive series. That started when Michael Dispense was awarded a free kick from 35 yards out on the left side of the field. That shot would ricochet off the crossbar, and Fredonia would get another chance moments later.

The Trojans would suffer a defensive error near their own 18-yard box, with Alexander Rush settling down a loose ball off the turnover. Rush then fed a pass to Joshua Reynolds for a hard-bending shot that found its way past Southwestern goaltender Declan Brown to even things up at 1-1.

Southwestern's Simon Pirrello makes a play on the ball against Fredonia keeper Tyler Rosen. Photo by Jay Young.

“We knew coming in that it’s always a good game with Southwestern,” said Fredonia coach Jim Rush. “The one thing I can always say about my teams is that it’s always 100 percent effort, heart. They gave everything they’ve got and you saw the emotion afterwords.”

Heading into extra time, Dispense would get another chance on a direct kick from way out with a little more than a minute left to play. Brown would grab that lofted shot out of the air and spring his midfielders on an odd-man rush with Fredonia pressing on the offensive side of the field.

Moving with speed and numbers, McKay Young would feed Pirello in stride for a low left-side finish past Fredonia goaltender Tyler Rosen with 50 seconds remaining on the clock.

“We can create those kind of goals, that is how our teams have scored a lot of goals the last few years,” said Southwestern coach Jason Deering. “That is a good ending, a good counter-attack rush. Once I saw them split on that center back, I knew we were going to have a good opportunity to win the game.”

The Trojans have been efficient in creating offensive chances throughout the season, and continued to do more of that on Wednesday night. Deering’s only issue thus far is that Southwestern could easily have more than the 35 goals they have scored. Things would start off with a deep shot by Max Vaughn, while Fredonia got its offense going with another booming free kick by Dispense.

Southwestern's McKay Young, left, and Fredonia's Ronan Murphy (5) make a play on a ball as the Hillbillies' Alexander Maytum looks on. Photo by Jay Young.

With 18 minutes remaining in the first half, the Trojans would go on a 10-minute offensive barrage with chances by Marcus Kautzman on a bouncing shot, and a corner kick by Vaughn that found the head of Young for another good opportunity.

With nine minutes to play in the first half, Drew Keppel broke things open after collecting a pass from Michael Carnes near the top of the box. Keppel found some space in a crowd of defenders and let a low shot go that found its way past the outstretched hands of Rosen for a 1-0 lead.

“We were able to string some passes together,” said Deering. “Really, our defense and the way we are flying around the field to win the second pass or the next pass, those are the things that are really helping us maintain control of games.”

The Trojans would continue to rack up the chances with time winding down in the opening half, but could not extend their lead following a direct kick by Young and another corner kick that was headed off the field-goal bar by Pirrello.

The Trojans will now face a difficult test against East Division leading Allegany-Limestone (8-2, 5-0) at 7 p.m. on Monday at home.