Jason Pendleton looked to the sky with his hands on his head and a grimace on his face.

Free State high soccer player Katie Bracciano heads the ball toward the goal. The Firebirds lost to Olathe South, 4-0, Friday at Free State.

The Free State High girls soccer team lost, 4-0, to Olathe South Friday, but the Firebirds’ missed opportunities suggested the score should have been considerably closer.

Junior Katie Bracciano broke away from the Falcons’ defense with about 23 minutes remaining in the game and had only the keeper to beat. Unfortunately for Free State, an Olathe South defender caught up to Bracciano before she could pound a clean attempt. Free State trailed by only 2 at the time.

Free State set up for a corner kick shortly after the missed opportunity. Junior Leah Williams kicked the ball near the goal, close to where freshman Carlin Francis stood. The Firebirds failed to capitalize, though, after a conglomerate of players from both teams crowded the ball near the net.

“I’m disappointed because we possibly could have been going into overtime with two opportunities we had to potentially tie the game late,” Pendleton said.

Furthermore, with under 10 minutes left in the game, junior Logan Keasling sprung free of the O-South defense and had an open look. Keasling struck the ball well, but it wound up in the hands of the Falcons’ keeper.

“We really need to work on putting it in the back of the net,” Keasling said. “I think overall it’s just finishing that’s our main thing. It’s like putting the last piece of the puzzle in.”

On the other hand, Free State (3-5-2) could take positives away from Friday’s experience. Olathe South (9-2 overall, 6-0 Sunflower League) is the defending Class 6A state champion.

The last time the two teams met, the Falcons put the mercy rule on the Firebirds with a 10-0 victory in Olathe.

Friday’s game at Free State was competitive until Stephanie Ludwig scored with 11:55 remaining to give the Falcons a three-goal lead.

“Going into the game, we were intimidated with last year’s results with them,” Williams said. “To actually get the ball up the field and emphasize getting corners and almost scoring on our corners is really good.”

Another positive for Free State was Pendleton’s estimate that his team created more corner kicks against the defending state champions Friday than it had in a single game all season.

“That’s certainly an encouraging sign, and it wasn’t just from whacking the ball forward,” Pendleton said. “It was finding the open player and circulating at different times. But they clearly had more dominant chances to score. It’s just a matter of being opportunistic.”

Olathe South had 18 shots on goal, while Free State had six.

Kourtney Vassar, Kelsie Hanson and Brittany Goosen scored the other three goals for the Falcons.

Free State will take on Gardner-Edgerton on the road at 6:15 p.m. Monday.