The West Seattle Wildcats managed a 1-1 tie in their season opener with Chief Sealth in a rain-slickened soccer match at Walt Hundley Field Tuesday afternoon.

Right from the opening, the Wildcats struggled to move the ball upfield. Pressure by the Seahawks led to the first score when Chief Sealth freshman Abdiaziz Hursane beat West Seattle goalkeeper Akili Kasim in the seventh minute.

“We were a little shell-shocked in the beginning because this is our first game. They came out hard and swinging,” West Seattle head coach Tony Coronado said.

Hursane’s score, though, energized West Seattle. The Wildcats challenged the ball better and forced play in the Chief Sealth end of the field, and the defense kept the Seahawks from pressuring Kasim going into the half.

“Once we settled down and realized we could play with these guys, the team seemed to go a lot better,” Coronado said.

West Seattle knotted the score early in the second half when senior Carter Mensing scored off a penalty kick in the forty-fifth minute. Afterward, though, neither team could establish any dominance on the slippery turf.

“I think they did a better job at challenging. However, our back line’s really good in the air. Every time it was booted up to us, we won most of those. In the center of the field, they seemed to win more. And in the front, just because of the slippery conditions, when it hit the ground it was anybody’s game,” Coronado said.

Coronado says the opener didn’t foreshadow how good the Wildcats will be.

“It’s a jumping spot for us. The first half of the season we’re learning how to play with each other. The second half of the season is when we start really playing,” Coronado said.

The Wildcats’ next match-up is against Nathan Hale at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Adams #2. Chief Sealth’s next match-up is against Cleveland at 4:00 p.m. Friday.