High school girls varsity soccer is under way, marked by an early matchup between cross-town rivals West Seattle High School and Chief Sealth International High School on Sept. 6 at the Southwest Athletic Complex.

It was a hard fought match with several scoring chances for both sides as the WSHS Wildcats pulled off the win with a goal from Katie Dulong in the last five minutes to break a 1-1 tie stretching back to the first half.

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Dulong, a freshman forward (nothing new there as coach Kevin Fieser said almost half the team this year are freshman), started out dangerous as well with the first solid scoring chance of the game. She elevated above the crowd for a header from a corner kick two minutes in that was destined for the net before a quick-reacting Sealth player deflected it out for another corner.

Four minutes later, only six into the game, Seahawk midfielder Karla Mejia Fuentes broke free from West Seattle’s back line near the half line, but flubbed her shot to the right as Wildcat goalie Sarah Dulong came out to pressure in the one-on-one.

In the eighth minute Chief Sealth broke the short-lived goal drought when a corner kick dropped into the box, bouncing around until forward Emma Pierce was able to get a foot on it at the six yard line, lacing the ball freely in as Wildcat keeper Dulong was out of position due to the chaos in front of her net.

Within a matter of minutes, West Seattle responded with an unlikely goal as midfielder Savannah Bogan found the ball at her feet just beyond the half line. Looking forward to make a play, she played a deep, looping through ball in hopes one of her teammates would make a run and meet up with the optimistic pass. Instead, the ball took a single, hearty bounce near the 18-yard box and looped over the Seahawk keeper’s outstretched arms and into the goal.

After the initial flurry of chances and goals, the game settled a bit and both defenses locked down on breakaways and shots. It was a blustery afternoon as well, and winds made for unpredictable flight paths on any balls played through the air.

It appeared the match was headed for a draw, but with five minutes left in regulation West Seattle’s Katie Dulong found herself with the ball and time for a shot from 15 yards out, putting it in the net and securing a 2-1 victory for the Wildcats.

The win puts West Seattle at 1-0 for the season. Their next game is Tuesday, Sept. 11 at Cleveland with a kickoff at 3:30.

Chief Sealth dropped to 0-2 with the loss. Their next match is a home game against Rainier Beach on Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 3:30.