Lawrence High's Olivia Dykes (17) celebrates after scoring the Lions' second goal. LHS beat Leavenworth, 2-0, Thursday at the Youth Sports, Inc. fields.

Thirty-nine minutes of missed opportunities. A two-minute goal-scoring flurry. Thirty-nine more minutes of missed opportunities.

The symmetrical bookends weren’t important to Lawrence High’s girls soccer team Thursday afternoon at the Youth Sports, Inc. fields. But those two minutes? They worked out just swell for the Lions, who finally broke through with the only two goals of the game in a physical 2-0 victory against Leavenworth High.

“We’ve been having a hard time getting balls in the back of the net,” LHS assistant coach Monica Ruiz said. “I think it’s going to help with our confidence. We had a pretty bad losing streak to open the season, so it was important to get this win.”

The victory actually was the Lions’ second straight, coming on the heels of a horrendous six-game losing streak in which LHS managed just three goals.

Lawrence (5-6) nearly matched that total against the Pioneers and probably should have surpassed it given the number of chances that barely missed.

It wasn’t until the 40th minute, just before the clock wound down for halftime, that LHS struck gold. Sophomore Kaley Tesdahl snuck behind the Pioneers’ defense in the penalty area, beating the offsides call to chip a shot off goalkeeper Brooke Didde’s hands and into the net.

Tesdahl said the score came at the perfect time.

“It’s always a turning point when someone gets a goal when you’re not playing very well,” she said. “We definitely stepped up our game after that.”

Just 90 seconds later, following intermission, it was sophomore Olivia Dykes’ turn to score. Dykes softly lofted a ball from the right of the penalty box that appeared to be a pass into the congested middle. The ball kept sailing, though – all the way over the goal line for the second score.

Most of the second half featured fouls by both teams that had coaches from each side pleading for cards from the referees. None came, but the Pioneers were awarded a penalty kick in the 69th minute.

That’s when Emma Lumpe, who was a rock for Lawrence in goal all afternoon, came up biggest. Her diving save of the ensuing penalty kick preserved the shutout. It was the Lions’ fourth shutout in their five victories.

“She’s pretty solid,” Ruiz said of Lumpe. “I don’t get too worried about it with her back there. She can handle it pretty well.”

LHS will travel to Shawnee Mission South on Tuesday. Game time is 7:30 p.m.