If Free State High’s girls soccer players could have held their ground for 37 more seconds Tuesday night against Shawnee Mission West, they would have walked away with a tie.

But Vikings junior midfielder Morgan Mauck, who pounded shots at the FSHS goal throughout the second half, finally got one past Firebirds senior goalkeeper Annie Hierl in the 100th minute, earning SMW a 3-2 victory in double overtime.

Free State coach Kelly Barah thought his defense had the ball contained on the left side of the field in the last possible minute of the game. Instead, the Firebirds (1-2) relieved a little bit of pressure, allowing the ball to cross over to the right side for Mauck, who spun away from her defender and nailed the game-winner.

“It’s pretty tough to lose a game that way, regardless if you played well or not,” Barah said, “and we know for sure we didn’t play our best game today.”

Though the Vikings controlled possession throughout the second half, making the overtime victory possible, Free State’s defense improved in the two 10-minute extra periods. It seemed as if the Firebirds would escape with a tie until Mauck delivered the final blow.

FSHS senior Tanna Fanshier, whose goal in the 67th minute tied the game, 2-2, said the Vikings’ golden goal devastated the home team.

“When it’s rolling back there, you think, ‘Surely not. Surely this is not possible. Surely we’re gonna get it out. I mean, they can’t score in the last however-many seconds.’ And when you see it go in, it’s just heartbreaking,” Fanshier said. “You feel like no matter how much you put into it, you always feel like it’s your fault. It’s just part of the team mentality.”

Although FSHS senior Jessica Ferguson gave her team a 1-0 lead in the first half, SMW (4-2) finally scored in the 60th minute on a Rachel Krueger header and took a 2-1 lead four minutes later on a free kick by Hannah Miller.

Fanshier scored by beating her defender to a ball, running past that defender and shooting over SMW goalkeeper Alyssa Gregory to tie the game. It was a rare occasion in the second half when FSHS was the aggressor.

“We had some breakdowns in the middle,” Fanshier said, “and that allowed them to gain possession, and then we were defensively off after that. We were just a little off kilter at times tonight.”

Both Ferguson and FSHS senior Kaitlin Dunbar took cracks at the goal in the second overtime, long after Free State failed to seize the momentum of Fanshier’s tying score.

“That’s one of the things about soccer that’s so cool, but so scary,” Fanshier said. “You’re never safe.”