Lawrence High’s Kristy Gerard, right, defends Shawnee Mission West’s Ashley Mauck. The Lions lost, 2-1, on Tuesday at Youth Sports Inc.

Lawrence High’s Megan Andrews (14) and Shawnee Mission West’s Sarah Batterson fight for a possession. The Lions fell, 2-1, Tuesday at Youth Sports Inc.

Lawrence High girls soccer coach Matt Anderson had a feeling the Shawnee Mission West girls would try to use his team as an ailment for a Monday-night loss to Overland Park Aquinas.

But he had no idea that his Lions would prove to be the perfect medicine for the Vikings, who knocked off LHS, 2-1, Tuesday at Youth Sports Inc.

“We had hoped to come out here and take advantage of some dead legs on their part,” Anderson said. “But for the first 40 to 50 minutes, they just took it to us, and we had absolutely no answer.”

The Vikings looked much more aggressive from the start, beating the Lions to several 50-50 balls and moving up and down the field at will.

Their patience and panache resulted in a pair of first-half goals — scored by senior Amanda Bundrant and freshman Amy Schmidt — and the Lions, who opened the season with five straight victories, were forced to digest a two-goal deficit after 40 minutes.

“At halftime, we talked about how they just seemed to want it more,” Anderson said.

That was no surprise, according to LHS sophomore Marley Sutter, who said she noticed her team’s lack of intensity even before the start.

“In warm-ups, we didn’t feel good, we all had something to complain about, and you could just tell that we weren’t really ready to play,” Sutter said.

It didn’t take long for that to change. Challenged by Anderson — and themselves — to step up their play, the Lions were a far different pack in the second half.

As a result, bounces began to go the their way and LHS found itself crawling back into the game.

“It’s a shame that it takes being down, 2-0, at halftime for us to realize that that’s the way we need to play hard from the get-go,” Anderson said.

Many wearing black and red said after the game that if they had played the first half the way they played during the final 25 minutes, they probably would have won. That fact was hard to contest, as the Lions flipped the switch and became the far more aggressive team for the final 20 minutes.

The Lions’ influx of intensity cut the Vikings’ lead in half when Sutter found junior Kaley Tesdahl streaking up the middle of the field with a little less than 20 minutes to play. After refusing to let the ball escape the attacking zone, Sutter used her head to flip a pass to the charging Tesdahl, who lunged forward and poked a shot past the Vikings’ goalkeeper with her right toe.

The Lions’ lone goal — which came with 16:28 to play — was the product of two weapons the team uses very well — pinpoint passing and all-out effort.

“When you get that adrenaline rush at the end, and you’re trying to catch up, you just do whatever you can to get it up there,” Sutter said.

The Lions (5-2) continued to pressure the Vikings (3-5) for the next 16 minutes but West had just enough of defensive awareness to prevent LHS from scoring the equalizer.

Despite the loss, Sutter said the Lions planned to use Tuesday’s game to their advantage.

“I think this is something to be positive about,” she said. “We’re disappointed that we lost, but we have to move on.”

Next for the Lions, who have lost two straight, is a date with No. 3 Olathe Northwest at 7 p.m. Thursday in Olathe.