Minutes after their 1-0 home loss to Topeka, Free State High’s soccer players still were shaking their heads in disbelief. The outcome wasn’t what stunned them, though. The fact that they had just lost and failed to score a goal after firing 26 shots seemed incomprehensible.

“Twenty-six shots and you don’t finish,” senior midfielder Andrew Heck, who had nine shots, said with a disgusted laugh, “bad things are going to happen.”

“That’s the thing about soccer – sometimes it’s tough to score,” coach Jason Pendleton added.

The irony of the non-conference home loss, in which Topeka (3-4-1) managed just three shots, was not lost on the Firebirds (6-2, 3-1).

“You’ve got to put the ball in the back of the net in order to get it done, and that’s what’s cruel about soccer,” Pendleton said. “But that’s also what’s great about soccer. Sometimes you can be on the other end and not get a lot of chances, but convert the ones that you do get and get a win.”

Topeka did just that, maximizing on a defensive miscommunication between Free State’s goalkeeper Frank Hurtig and defender Daniel Chance. The Trojans’ Julian Carvajal controlled the ball that neither Firebird made a play on and kicked it right past Hurtig in the 54th minute.

“One of them assumed that somebody was going to do something else,” Pendleton said, noting that the play was a perfect example of something he has been saying all season: 99 percent concentration equals 100 percent failure.

“The bigger problem is we didn’t finish the chances we had,” Pendleton said.

The chances were there in the second half, when Free State had 17 shots. Heck said once the Firebirds fell behind, they played with urgency, not anxiety.

“Things got a little more hectic. We just started playing balls into the final third and seeing what would happen, but it never should have come down to that,” he added.

Outside of the defensive mishap and the offensive misfires, the Firebirds controlled the match.

“It’s frustrating, of course, but there’s nothing you can really do about it,” Heck said.

Pendleton praised Topeka for battling, being well-organized and winning despite the bombardment of Free State shots, four of which hit the crossbar. But the coach still felt like his team should have found the back of the net a few times.

“Topeka’s got our number, evidently,” Pendleton said, explaining that this marked the third straight game in which the Trojans have shut out the Firebirds.

Free State didn’t take solace in the fact that the loss came outside of conference, either.

“All games are important because they relate to your end-of-season seeding,” Pendleton said.

The Firebirds, he added, will have to get better at practice and prepare to get back on track.

“The test will come Thursday to see how we bounce back,” Heck said of Free State’s next home game against Shawnee Heights at 4 p.m.

Heck hoped the Firebirds would learn from this goal-less anomaly of a game because shots won’t come as easily in Sunflower League play.

“Our chances are crucial,” he said. “We’ll only get a few shots on goal, maybe. Not 26. We’re going to have to capitalize on at least one of them.”