Hazen got off to an encouraging start in Seamount play with a 1-1 tie against Kennedy Tuesday night.

The Highlanders (1-0-2) got on the board very quickly when Tyra Markey nailed a long shot just over two minutes into the game.

“We didn’t want to change anything after that,” said Hazen coach Ken Matthews. “Our plan is the same: we wanted to keep pressure on them.”

The teams battled back and forth for much of the game, each getting good shots to score, but defense won out until the 59th minute when Mary Witkowski scored for the Lancers and brought the game to a 1-1 tie.

Matthews said the Highlanders’ conditioning was not quite where it needs to be in the Seamount season opener, and that hurt the team as the minutes wore on against a tough opponent.

“We were just tired,” he said. “We’re not in good shape yet. But we’ll get better.”

Even after leading for most of the game, Matthews said a draw is no letdown against Kennedy.

“Never against kennedy, trust me,” he said. “You always take the point against Kennedy and you have to be happy with that.”

The Lancers have dominated the Seamount league lately, making state every year since 2000.

Hazen opened Seamount play with a 0-0 tie against Kennedy last year, but Matthews said this one felt a little better.

“We were more mindful of keeping it 0-0 last year instead of trying to go after the win,” he said. That wasn’t the case Tuesday night as both teams were attacking and battling for the win. “For us to do this well against this team, this fast makes a big difference.”