ROHNERT PARK -- Armando Coronel scored the first goal of the season after a corner kick in the 30th minute, but the Sonoma State men's soccer team settled for a 1-1 draw with 11th-ranked Seattle Pacific to open the 2016 campaign Thursday at the Seawolf Soccer Field in Rohnert Park.

"We started well, but I thought we lost ourselves a bit in the second half," said SSU head coach Marcus Ziemer.  "You have to give SPU credit, they got organized at halftime and gave us some difficulties.

I thought our defense played well. Even though SPU had some possession around our box, they didn't have a lot of chances on goal.

The Seawolves controlled the run of play in the first half and compiled a 6-2 shot advantage in the early going. Half of their shots were directly on goal, forcing Falcon netminder Cody Lang to make three early saves. In the 14th minute, he lunged to tap a header by Jose Avalos over the crossbar. A shot by SSU's Luis Mendoza 14 minutes later caromed off the right post.
 
Sonoma converted its seventh shot, a tap-in from the goalmouth by Armando Coronel in the 30th minute. After a corner kick into the box was headed toward the goal, Lang reached out a hand to deflect it. The loose ball fell to Coronel's feet for the easy finish near the left post in the 30th minute.
 
The final first-half shot count was 7-3 in favor of the hosts and none of the Falcons attempts required saving.
 
During the remaining 65 minutes, covering the second half and two 10-minute overtimes, SPU yielded just four shots and nothing on frame.
 
The Falcons were the aggressors after halftime, compiling an 11-4 shot count after that juncture. They were rewarded 17 minutes into the period when SPU's Carlos Franco intercepted a poor back pass and quickly dribbled into the right side of the box. He delivered a low, 16-yard shot inside the left post to level the score.  Neither team would find the net from there on out, forcing the 1-1 deadlock despite Sonoma playing a man down for the final 15 minutes of overtime.

"We lost our composure at times in the second half," Ziemer explained.  "Our guys needs to be more under control."

He finished by saying, "Looking back on the game, it was good to get a tie against a quality, ranked opponent, but I thought the win was there for the taking. We need to regroup and get ready for a tough game against Western Washington (on Saturday at 5:00 pm)."