Lawrence freshman Kristy Gerard tries to keep the ball away Olathe North. The Lions fell, 7-0, on Friday at the Youth Sports Inc. fields.

Lawrence senior Abby Vestal tries to keep a possession away from an Olathe North player.

Lawrence High entered Friday night’s home soccer game as a battered unit and left with wounded pride.

Olathe North drubbed the Lions, 7-0, at the Youth Sports Inc. fields.

“It’s kind of a setback,” said Abby Vestal, the team’s lone senior. “It’s just kind of a downer.”

Unfortunately for the Lions, it’s also a repetitive scenario. LHS lost to Olathe South by the same score Thursday night.

Injuries have helped account for the Lions’ two-game, two-touchdown tumble. LHS played without starting strikers Megan Andrews and Olivia Dykes. Regan Keller also missed the game because of a school event. Vestal played the entire game despite a sore foot, which required her to leave the field wearing a protective boot.

“It looks like a M.A.S.H. unit over there right now,” LHS coach Matt Anderson said. “We have so many people in new places. We can’t get any sense of consistent play across the board.”

Those woes mounted Friday night. With 32.4 seconds left in the game, sophomore Maddy Orth, who was celebrating her birthday, injured her ankle. She needed help walking off the field, and after the game Anderson did not know her prognosis.

O-North (10-4) looked a step faster than the Lions (3-7-2) all night. Its offense often beat the LHS defense down the center of the field with its speed and long passes. Sarah Thompson, Abby Graszl and Jennifer Wolfe each scored in the first half.

Facing a 3-0 deficit, Anderson opted to start Jordan Payne instead of Emma Lumpe at goalie for the second half.

“It’s just something we’ve talked about,” he said. “We all have things we have to work on. Emma Lumpe’s not outside of that realm. That’s everybody.”

Payne, a freshman, received playing time for the second time this season.

“I was excited,” she said. “But I also know a couple of those (balls) I should have really had.”

Indeed, Payne and the rest of the Lions’ defense allowed four more goals in the second half at the 31:14, 11:58, 11:29 and 5:38 marks.

Vestal, one of the team’s leaders and most eloquent players, was at a loss for words following the emphatic loss.

“I don’t know what all could be said be now,” she said.

With its team in a slump and nursing ailments, LHS will try to regroup during its next game on Monday versus Shawnee Mission Northwest. That match also serves as senior night for a team at a crossroads.

“There’s two ways to go,” Anderson said. “We can duck our heads and not care and not try to make any plans for postseason, or we can keep our heads high, keep working, get our players back.”