LHS freshman Sarah Stuever, right, defends against Olathe Northwest's Megan Weston. The Ravens shut out the Lions, 3-0, Thursday at Youth Sports, Inc.

As if playing in cold, soggy conditions Thursday at Youth Sports Inc. wasn’t enough for the Lawrence High girls soccer squad, the Lions quickly found themselves in a hole minutes into the game against Olathe East.

The Hawks scored two minutes into the first half and controlled the pace the rest of the way in a 3-0 LHS loss.

“They got the early goal, and that’s always deflating,” Lawrence coach Matt Anderson said. “But I definitely think we had a lot of fight and kept it 1-0 at the half. Unfortunately, we have that bad habit of giving up those early start goals. We gave up the second goal about three minutes into the second half.”

Olathe East entered the game with a decorated resume: Runner-up in last year’s Kansas Class 6A state tournament and ranked No. 3 in the state.

Halfway into the second, the Hawks put up the final goal on a penalty kick after goalkeeper Emma Lumpe was given a yellow card for going in hard on an attacker in the box.

“They’re a really good team and know what they are doing on the field,” LHS’s Madison Bertrand said. “We kept them to just three goals, which is a big improvement from the past years we’ve played them.”

The Lions’ offensive opportunities were few and far between throughout the entire game.

“What happened was, due to their offensive proficiency, I think our gaps from the mids to the strikers were too deep,” Anderson said. “When you’re trying to make up 25 or 30 yards to get from the mids to the strikers, it becomes a problem. Therefore, by the time you’re ready to attack, you’ve given them enough time to get back on defense.”

Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to crosstown rival Free State was still lingering with the Lions even after Thursday.

“Our loss to Free State really pushed us harder to want to go out and beat them and work our hardest,” Bertrand said. “After that loss we realized we need to be more physical and be stronger when going up against these harder teams. So we’ve just been trying to push each other at practice and body up more so we can play with these teams and give them a fight.”

The Lions will face another Sunflower League foe on Tuesday when they travel to Olathe North.