EASTHAMPTON — It was a defensive battle between the Williston-Northampton girls soccer team and Deerfield Academy, as the two teams drew, 0-0, Wednesday afternoon.

Both teams were evenly matched and barely able to create opportunities at goal. Each prevented shots from getting off before they’ve had the chance to develop.

“That was two good teams working super hard,” Williston coach Jennifer Fulcher said. “I’m super, super proud of our kids, who worked from the first whistle to the last and battled everywhere on the field.”

The Deerfield defense did a number on the Wildcats’ attacking unit, deflecting balls out whenever they got in dangerous positions or allowing their goalkeeper to grab the ball whenever it got close.

“They have a great defense,” Fulcher said. “They have good speed, great athletes back there ― but so do we. We were trying to create some space in behind them by checking forward and going inside to go outside and release some of our good athletes on the outside to then bring it back in, so that created a couple of chances. It’s hard to score in soccer. We created a couple of great opportunities and gave it our best shot.”

The Wildcats (4-2-1) had a strong effort from their back four, but the midfield provided the blanket in the middle that kept the ball out of play for the Big Green (0-2-3). Midfielders Julia Farnham (Amherst), Christina Vote and Emily Crovo did a good job of heading away balls and shielding off opponents in the middle.

“I think, first of all, our midfield played their tails off,” Fulcher said. “They probably ran 10 miles today. They were up and down the field. (Deerfield) had three really good midfielders. Number 15 (Ingrid Matteini) had a terrific second half. Our defense, they’re the athletes you take in any team. They contained them, they made good choices on when to play to feet and when to play out and relieve the pressure.”

The Wildcats kept feeding their wingers, especially in the second half. After a shaky first half, wingers Louisa Weed (Holyoke) and Sahnet Ramirez were given many opportunities by their midfield to create for themselves and others from the flanks.

“I saw that there was a lot of space usually on the opposite side (of the field),” Farnham said. “I found that if we were able to switch the field we could hit a hole there and also, Louisa getting wide on the side. A couple of times at the beginning of the game, we weren’t giving her support options so that’s kind of what I was aiming for when I made the big run was to show up so she could have a wall to bounce it off of and then go back forward.”

Deerfield created some opportunities and had some clean shots at goal in the closing minutes. Wildcats goalkeeper Selena Negron (Easthampton) stopped four shots, including back-to-back saves when a rebound led to another attempt but she deflected the shot up and off of the crossbar. A few seconds later the final whistle blew and the score held at a 0-0 draw.

“Selena is a beast,” Fulcher said. “Selena’s going to come up with a big save, or 10, per game that we play. It’s hard to beat Selena.”