Matt Freese had three saves in a nine-round shootout and Mitja Ilenic scored the winner as New York City FC beat Roman Celentano and FC Cincinnati 6-5 on Saturday after the two clubs dueled to a scoreless draw in regulation of the rubber match in the best-of-three first-round series.

A scoreless deadlock in regulation gave way to a penalty kick shootout, and the sequence served as a worthy showcase for two U.S. men’s national team hopefuls in goal: Matt Freese of NYCFC and Cincinnati’s Roman Celentano.

The best chance for Cincinnati came in the 31st minute when a loose ball fell to Luca Orellano just 12 yards from goal. His shot was destined for the bottom corner until Matt Freese made a spectacular save. This was the important intervention that kept NYCFC in the game and showed the resilience of the team in the face of attacks from Cincinnati.