Blaine Juhl showed perseverance when the referee called his goal off in the second half on Thursday. The Free State High soccer team trailed Shawnee Mission Northwest by a goal. Juhl’s shot would have tied it up, but the Firebirds were offside.

So 32 seconds later, Juhl, a senior, made Free State fans forget the offside call and scored, tying the game. Juhl played well on Senior Day in front of Free State’s home crowd.

Unfortunately for the Firebirds, Dan McMullen of the Cougars played better. The junior’s two goals helped Shawnee Mission Northwest (5-9-2) defeat Free State (5-10-1), 3-2, in overtime.

McMullen scored his second goal in overtime off a SMNW corner kick. Upon scoring the goal, McMullen screamed and jumped around ecstatically like he had won a million dollars.

Free State coach Jason Pendleton said he had the proper personnel on the field to defend SMNW’s corner kick.

“Based on my calculation, we had two more players back than they did,” Pendleton said. “From a pure numerical standpoint, we should have been able to cover that.”

Juhl said he combated muscle cramps minutes before overtime, but resolved it in time to play in the extra period.

“It’s just a matter of heart and keeping on your marks, and we didn’t get that done,” Juhl said of the overtime period.

Senior Kyle Ceesay assisted on Juhl’s goal, which came with 21:55 left in the game.

“I just got lucky and was in the right place at the right time and barely trickled it in, so it worked out,” Juhl said. “It was just a volley off the side of my foot.”

The goal tied the score at two and shifted the momentum back to the home team. However, the Firebirds couldn’t score again before the regulation buzzer sounded. Then, McMullen put the nail in the coffin in overtime.

Pendleton said, on the positive side, he had noticed a steady progression in Juhl’s play.

“This time last year, I never would have expected him to be a varsity player,” Pendleton said. “He’s just a great kid who’s worked really hard and always put the team first.”

Free State got on the board first, thanks to the teamwork of juniors Jordan Williams and Erik Slan. On a routine throw-in, Williams noticed Slan running down the right sideline unmarked. After receiving the ball, Slan took a few dribbles and pounded the ball for Free State’s first goal of the game. It only took 51 seconds off the clock. Slan said he was surprised how much open room SMNW defenders left him.

“I wasn’t too sure where the goal was at first,” Slan said. “I knew I was near the goal, got a good turn and hit it as hard as I could.”

Thursday marked the second game in a row Free State gave up a lead. In its last game, Free State led Olathe North, 2-0, but ended up losing the game, 3-2.

“Our team is like a poor man’s blanket,” Pendleton said. “We move it around to cover up one body part, but the unfortunate part is we expose a different body part. We temporarily are warm in certain areas. Maybe we should join the knitting club to make our blanket a little bit longer going into the playoffs.”

Free State will face Manhattan High Tuesday in regionals play.

“I don’t think we’ve played a team yet this year that we couldn’t have beaten had we played well and not made specific mistakes,” Pendleton said. “The test for us will be, can we minimize those mistakes? Hopefully, if we do make those mistakes, they’re not the kind that punish you in terms of resulting in goals.”

Before the game, Free State faculty and coaches honored seniors Juhl, Ceesay, Mitch Morrow, Drew Schelar, Travis Everett and Todd Lee.