The message was clear Thursday night after the Lawrence High boys soccer team’s sixth straight loss this season: Enough is enough.

“It gets to a point where that score up there is not OK,” LHS co-captain Rex Hargis told his team before it broke its final huddle of the night.

That score was a 3-0 setback, the Lions’ fifth shutout in six games. This one came at the hands of Shawnee Mission West – an opponent Lawrence felt it had a good chance of beating.

And, for a half at least, it seemed possible.

Much of the play in the first 40 minutes took place in the middle of the field, with each team managing only one shot on goal. LHS was more aggressive and more organized than in previous games, but that didn’t translate into any shots finding the back of the net. It just meant SM West had fewer scoring chances.

That is, until the second half.

“We just had a couple of breakdowns,” LHS head coach Bill Kelly said about the final 40 minutes. “It’s the darn little things. And the other teams have breakdowns, but we can’t capitalize.

“It seems like every little breakdown that we have, the ball is always in the wrong spot for us and the right spot for them.”

Vikings senior Alex DeLuca struck first, turning and firing to his right in the penalty box to beat LHS goalkeeper Sean Simmons in the 45th minute. Seventeen minutes later, SM West (5-4, 2-2) scored again when Jesse Kirkwood headed a corer kick from Doug Nickols.

The Lions (1-6, 0-4) tried to get back in the game, but as has been the case throughout the year, nothing went right. Dar Fornelli blasted a shot that was tip-saved over the goal by Vikings goalkeeper Cole Millard in the 63rd minute, and Hargis had a free kick in the 68th minute that smacked off the crossbar.

SM West’s Sion Jones rounded out the scoring in the 75th minute on a shot into the bottom right corner of the net.

Since defeating Junction City to open the season, LHS has been outscored 18-1.

“We just need to get some goals,” LHS senior Taylor Bussinger said. “We need to find a way.”

What made Thursday night’s loss even more frustrating was how well the Lions played in the beginning.

“We were tied at half, and I think it’s one of the first times we haven’t been down at half,” LHS sophomore Tor Fornelli said. “And then in the second half, just some unlucky stuff and I think we kind of lost focus.”

Kelly said he was proud of how his team played, particularly the defense. But he knows it’s going to take some offense to have any chance of turning this season around.

“You just can’t shut everybody out with goose eggs,” Kelly said. “And we have to be able to score a couple of goals to help the defense out.”

After playing six of its first seven games at home, LHS now faces the tall task of playing three road games in four days, beginning Monday at Manhattan.