If there are no losers in a tie, then Free State High and Lawrence High certainly came away winners Thursday night.

The annual city soccer showdown at the Youth Sports Inc. fields might have ended in a 1-all, double-overtime tie, but neither LHS coach Keith Nelson nor FSHS coach Jason Pendleton fell back on the “sister-kissing” cliche.

Instead, each focused on what the result meant for his team.

“We’re fortunate to get a tie in the end because we clearly could’ve given up three goals,” Pendleton said.

The Firebirds (4-2-2) dominated much of the game, including overtime, yet three mental mistakes nearly burned them all three times. The Lions (1-6-1) needed a tie to end a two-game losing streak. Neither wanted to tie, but neither was going to complain.

“It stinks to tie, but to tie a great team like that, then we know that we can play with anybody,” Nelson said. “I’m still looking for the effort, instead of the result. Tonight, for the first time this season, that effort was there.”

The Lions’ most visible effort came early in the second half, when they controlled the ball consistently and were far more aggressive than the Firebirds. The result? Their first goal in two games.

Junior Oscar Ortega placed a curving corner kick in front of the FSHS goal, which found junior Zach Stephens unmarked. His header found the back of the net, and the Lions found themselves in the lead for the first time this year.

Free State, which dominated most of the first half, didn’t recover until about 10 minutes later.

Pendleton moved senior sweeper Bryan Spangler to forward to provide an offensive spark. Spangler had replaced senior Cameron Baumchen, who broke his leg against Leavenworth on Tuesday.

“We ended up playing a 4-3-3 because once they got the lead, they really started packing their defense,” Pendleton said.

The shift worked. Free State put together a couple of nice runs, then junior Joel Angelone tied the game with 15 minutes left in the second half on a left-footed putback from about 15 yards out.

LHS had two great chances to take the lead in the next six minutes. Josh Yurek just missed on a cross from senior Josh Lorenzo, and senior Tyler Rush’s follow-up shot banged off the crossbar three minutes later. Those would be the last shots the Lions took.

Free State wasn’t done, though.

The Firebirds dominated both overtimes, with Angelone coming close on three different occasions, but they had their best chance at the end of the second overtime.

Spangler was tripped at the edge of the penalty box with a minute left, and the Firebirds were awarded a direct kick.

Pendleton wanted a penalty kick. He tore into the referee, claiming Spangler was inside the penalty box, but to no avail.

“That’s not why we didn’t win the game,” Pendleton said afterward. “We had our chances to win. We just didn’t get it done.”

Still, with his team adjusting to playing without Baumchen, and avoiding a loss in a series that Lawrence has dominated  the Lions own a 4-1-1 advantage  Pendleton wasn’t displeased with his team’s effort.

Neither was Nelson, who lauded his team for its effort.

OK, he had one wish.

“It would’ve been nice to finish that shot off the goalpost,” Nelson said