An intershaft seal system capable of communicating a balanced pressure profile onto forward and aft faces along a piston ring is presented. Seal system includes forward and aft mating rings and a piston ring. Mating rings include a plurality of divergent flow grooves adjacent to the piston ring. Each divergent flow groove includes a pair of grooves which intersect at and are substantially symmetric about an apex. The piston ring includes channels which direct a fluid from a high pressure region upward, downward, or directly through the piston ring and onto the divergent flow grooves. The divergent flow grooves separate the fluid in a symmetrically divergent fashion prior to communication onto the piston ring. The divergent flow grooves communicate a substantially symmetric pressure force along the radial width of the piston ring so as to minimize twisting thereof, thus reducing wear along the piston ring and increasing seal life.