Fortunately for the Hillbillies, the third time kept the same charm.

The Hillbillies (11-1-3) edged the Trojans (9-5-1), 2-1, at Silver Creek Central School. The victory will give Fredonia the chance to play for the Class B-2 title at Allegany-Limestone at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

The magnitude of last night’s victory was not lost on Fredonia coach Jim Rush.

“All I said was that I wanted a chance with this group,” Rush said. “I’m speechless right now. I don’t know the last time Fredonia played for a patch, but that’s what we’re doing.”

The Hillbillies started off on the attack, and that attack came early and often, with a couple early chances from ‘Billies star forward Juan Matias, who was clearly keyed in on by the Southwestern defense. Southwestern keeper Declan Brown was forced to make a couple saves early.

But in the 13th minute, the Fredonia attack forced a scrum in front of the net, causing Brown to lose track of the ball momentarily, which gave Fredonia midfielder Jack Carlson enough time to roll it by Brown for the 1-0 lead.

The smothering Fredonia defense continued.

Even though Southwestern was able to maintain possession for a few minutes, they had no good shots or opportunities, as Fredonia blanketed any attack.

“I told them we were going to come out tonight and do our thing,” Rush said. “And to their credit they did. I’m just so proud of them.”

OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot Fredonia’s Adam Sellari (13) and Southwestern’s Max Vaughn attempt to make a play on the ball during Thursday’s Section VI Class B-2 semifinal at Silver Creek Central School.

The defensive effort continued to be strong, on both ends, as the Southwestern defense tightened up after the early goal was allowed. They even caught a break in the 23rd minute, when Matias let a ball rip from 40 yards out that banged off the crossbar, keeping the deficit at one goal. Brown also continued to contribute with clutch saves, making an incredible diving stop on Fredonia’s Alex Rush in the 24th minute.

Despite Southwestern’s strong defensive play, the Fredonia offense once again found its moment as Carlson found nylon for the second time, on a well-timed header off a Fredonia free kick, extending Fredonia’s lead to 2-0. The score would hold going into halftime.

Southwestern is a program the Hillbillies have had their eye on for some time, with Rush calling them a rival.

“They’re a good program. It’s tough to beat a team three times,” Rush said. “We’ve been chasing them for a while. They were going to come, that’s what playoff soccer is about. We were going to be faced with adversity, and we were.”

It took a majority of the second half for the Trojans’ offense to come alive, but toward the end of the half, with Fredonia spending a majority of the half tightening up defensively, it did.

In the 74th minute, Fredonia keeper Trevor Persch came out to contest a ball off a Southwestern rush, but the Trojans’ attacker, Simon Pirrello, was able to edge the ball by him and bury it in the back of the net, cutting the Fredonia lead to 2-1. With not much time to go, Fredonia had a slim margin for error. But with the adversity now confronting them head on, Fredonia resorted to what it does best — control the ball.

Southwestern had another couple chances down the stretch, but for the most part, the Fredonia defense held firm, and when it showed signs of breaking, Persch was there to make the big save and Fredonia was able to survive the Southwestern onslaught and hold on for the 2-1 victory.

“It’s an awesome feeling for the work every single one of them has put in,” Rush said. “From the ones getting major minutes to the ones who help out in practice. It’s been awesome so far and we’re going to try and finish the job on Saturday.”

Fredonia was able to pull off the season sweep of the Trojans, hurdling an obstacle that has been in their way for a handful of seasons. Given the state of the world in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, a normally steady Rush displayed an obvious amount of passion for his team’s accomplishments so far.

“We played very well,” Rush said emphatically. “We deserve this, and that’s the message, is that we played well. We started on this journey in the middle of something like this, and we had ideas on what we could do, but what we’ve done, you can sense and see the excitement. The players deserve everything they’re getting.”

Fredonia’s season isn’t over. One last obstacle remains in their way, this time in the form of the Allegany-Limestone Gators, who have been one of the dominant soccer programs in Section VI for the last several years. Rush is going to make sure his team is ready for the challenge.

“The best thing I’ve said in a long time is ‘I’ll see you at practice on Friday,'” Rush said.