From the sideline late in the first half, Lawrence High boys soccer coach Chris Bertrand bellowed, "Keep up the intensity," to his players.
The Lions should have listened.
Following an aggressive first 40 minutes, LHS fell flat in the second half as Shawnee Mission West scored twice for a 3-2 victory Thursday at Youth Sports Inc..
"We came out on fire .... total domination the first half," Bertrand said. "We were flawless. The ball was moving, the short passes were going and then we got flat in the second half."
The Lions (0-4) bombarded the Vikings' goalie with shot after shot in the first half, connecting once on junior David Hansen's goal set up by a corner kick in the 21st minute for a 1-1 tie.
West (2-2) struck first on Stephen Hoffman's goal in the seventh minute.
The Lions never were able to lead. Viking junior Kurtis Kittell scored in the 49th minute. Lawrence senior Chris Reinhart countered with a goal nine minutes later for a 2-2 tie.
West junior Pat Reilly scored the decisive goal in the 60th minute.
LHS junior goalie Michael Bateman tried to deny Reilly high in the box, but the Viking midfielder was able to boom the ball off Bateman's hands before it headed into the net.
In four games, LHS has been outscored 14-6.
"Our defense is a sieve," Bertrand said. "All three of those goals weren't deserved. There was no running to the midfield. Everytime they scored, our heads went down and we felt sorry for ourselves."
West controlled the second half while beating the Lions to several balls.
"We're trying to play the game and not do the running," Bertrand said. "We put ourselves under a lot of pressure in the second half. We thought we had the game won. No matter what the score is, you've got to claw your way back."
Bertrand cited sophomore Joey Kelly and senior David Bennett for their play.
"Those two guys want the ball all the time," Bertrand said. "Joey worked hard and is always dangerous. David worked extremely hard."
Next for LHS is a Thursday road game at Shawnee Mission East.
-- Steve Rottinghaus' phone message number is 832-7152. His e-mail
address is srottinghaus@ljworld.com
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