PARKLAND – A tight, tense rivalry match saw scoring chances for both teams, but after 110 minutes of play Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound each walked off the field with a scoreless draw in the Northwest Conference women's opener for both teams Wednesday afternoon at East Field.

"It was a very even game," PLU head coach Seth Spidahl. "I thought we had some good moments of possession and stuff like that, but certainly so did they."

Both teams came into the match with perfect 4-0 nonconference records, as sixth-ranked Puget Sound aimed to claim a head start in the race for its 14th straight NWC title and the Lutes looked for their second straight win against their cross-town rivals. PLU also came in having not allowed a goal in four matches to open the season, a program record for consecutive shutouts to begin a year.

After 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods, a winner could not be decided between the two squads. Puget Sound finished the day with a 20-10 shot advantage, but the Lutes possessed the ball about 50 percent of the time as both teams had about an equal share of scoring opportunities. PLU goalkeeper Takara Mitsui tallied six saves in the match, while UPS keeper Laura Thomas totaled four.

"I think we battled tough today," sophomore midfielder Hailey Smoot said. "UPS is a good team, but I think we played well. It was a good game to come out for the first conference game. There's still a lot of work to do, a lot to improve, but we've had players step up, and I'm proud of our team's performance today."

Emily Hanna and Machaela Graddy each had two shot attempts for the Lutes, while Amalia Acorda-Fey and Danielle Silver tied to lead the Loggers with four shots apiece. Both teams had a shot deflected off the crossbar late in the contest, and the Lutes' final scoring opportunity came with less than 30 seconds to play in the second overtime period as Graddy's final shot of the day went high and wide.

"I told the team before the game that it's a 16-game season, and the conference title is not going to be won or lost today, and that's exactly what happened," Spidahl said. "It was a good game for us, and I'm proud of the way that we hung in there, defended well, and now we'll move on and look forward to Saturday's game against Willamette."

PLU will look to continue its program-record streak of five consecutive shutouts to open the year Saturday, when the Lutes host Willamette at 12:00 p.m.