BELLINGHAM, Washington—Most of the talk heading into the 2019 Chico State soccer season centered around the influx of freshmen and newcomers to the program. The 'old guys' showed they still have a lot of bounce in Thursday night's season-opening 2-1 win at Western Washington University.
 
Senior Matt Hafizi's one-hop header off the Harrington Field turf in the 27^th minute staked the Wildcats to an early lead, fourth-year junior Garrett Hogbin made it 2-0 in the 77^th minute with a one-hop side volley into the far upper-V, and the Wildcats held off a late Vikings charge to win.
 
Chico State finished last season 13-6-1 and advanced to the NCAA Championship Tournament, but has undergone a major roster reshuffling this season with 20 newcomers, including 17 freshmen.

 
The Wildcats faced a stiff first test in Western Washington, which is picked to finish second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference this season, and passed with flying colors. They've now won four straight in Bellingham and beaten the Vikings eight times in 10 meetings since 2006.
 
Fellow seniors Samuel Licona and Mikey Hirsch helped set up Hafizi for his third goal in the past two seasons. Licona took a throw-in from near the left corner flag and made a nifty move to create the space to slip a pass through two defenders to Hirsch, who was lurking on the edge of the 18-yard box. Hirsch took the pass and turned and still had time to survey the scene before ripping a cross to Hafizi at the top of the six yard box. Hafizi headed it nearly straight down and it bounced inside the right post.
 
Making his Chico State debut, goalkeeper Jose Paredes saved the lead with 24:14 to go, parrying away a promising blast toward the near post.
 
Chico State doubled its lead in the 77^th minute on a set piece set up by Hafizi and Fluitt. Yet another of the team's seven seniors, Fluitt made a nice move to maneuver down the right flank before passing to Hafizi, who drew a foul 40 yards out from goal.
 
Servando Higuera floated the free kick deep into the opposite side of the six-yard box that was headed high into the air by a Vikings defender. Hogbin, who had bodied his way into the box, retreated back and blasted a side-winding volley off the turf and into the far upper netting.
 
Western Washington cut the lead in half on Georg Cholewa's free kick around the wall and inside the near post from 22 yards out with just over 10 minutes to play.
 
Hirsch, Paredes, Higuera, and freshmen Jacob Chong and Ben Souza made their first regular-season starts for the Wildcats, while two more freshmen—Anthony Kaskie and Noah Ross—and graduate transfer Joey Scotti, made their Wildcats debuts.
 
Paredes was credited with a pair of saves.
 
The Wildcats will be back in action Saturday when they play at Seattle Pacific University at 7 p.m. The Falcons opened their season Thursday with a 1-1 draw at home against Sonoma State. Chico State is 3-0 against SPU over the past three seasons.
 
Fans can follow the action via STREAMING VIDEO and LIVE STATS.