Megan Hrenchir couldn’t have expected a soccer shot like the one she saw with 37:48 remaining in the second half.

Free State's Jenni Brooks, left, and Carlin Francis, right, attempt to steal the ball from Shawnee Mission East's Taylon Johnson. The Firebirds lost, 3-1, Tuesday at Free State.

The Free State High senior goalkeeper punted the ball near midfield, but no one challenged Shawnee Mission East’s Blair Snapper for the 50/50 ball. Snapper took a few dribbles and tagged an absolute laser beam from about 35 yards outside the net.

By the time Hrenchir reacted to the shot, the ball sailed over her head and into the back of the net for the second Lancers goal of the day. The Firebirds couldn’t contain SM East and fell, 3-1, Tuesday at Free State.

“I didn’t expect it,” Hrenchir said of the shot from Snapper, who will play soccer for Nebraska University next season. “When we realized she was going to shoot, we were too late to pressure the ball.”

Hrenchir did a fine job keeping Free State in the game. The Lancers produced 16 shots on goal, compared to the Firebirds’ three.

She made the nicest save of the day with about 20 minutes remaining in the game. Free State trailed, 2-0. SM East (4-2) penetrated the Free State defense and pounded a shot toward the right side of the goal. Hrenchir quickly closed the scoring gap with a diving left-handed save.

In fact, the save was so impressive that SM East coach Jim Ricker yelled “Nice save, keeper!” three times from the sidelines.

“That’s the type of keeper that Megan can be and has been consistently over the last four or five games,” Free State coach Jason Pendleton said. “I feel confident with her, and I think she’s going to be a big part of us continuing to have some success down the road this season.”

Hrenchir’s save sparked the Firebirds (3-4-2). With 11:03 remaining, freshman Hannah Carlson cut the SM East lead to 2-1 with a goal from about 10 yards outside the net. Junior Leah Williams assisted on the score.

“Coach talked to us at halftime about missing the same opportunity in the first half, where Leah set us up, but we just watched her,” Carlson said. “I hit it, and it went off the defender’s foot and right over the keeper’s hands, so it was actually pretty lucky.”

Free State has scored two goals in its last two games – both by Carlson. The Firebirds won, 1-0, Monday at Topeka High on Carlson’s goal.

SM East snapped the Firebirds’ three-game winning streak. The Lancers kept the ball on the Firebirds side of the field for most of the second half.

“They were just better than us,” Pendleton said. “With opportunities in soccer, they key is not how many you get, but what you do with the ones you do get. We need to be more opportunistic, because we didn’t have tons by any means, but we had enough opportunities to create goals.”

Hrenchir said the Firebirds would focus on connecting their passes more effectively before the next game against Olathe South on Friday.

“We’re still struggling with that,” Hrenchir said. “We can normally get it from defensive from midfield, but it’s the midfield to offensive transition that we’re probably going to work on a lot tomorrow.”