Lawrence High's Cain Scott gets caught underneath Gardner Edgerton's Dylan Mars after a header by Mars during the first half on Monday, Sept. 28, 2015 at Lawrence High School.

Allowing early goals has been the Lawrence High soccer team’s downfall throughout the season. It was more of the same in Monday’s 3-0 loss to Gardner-Edgerton at LHS.

Gardner-Edgerton forward Austyn Hatton scored in the ninth minute after intercepting a pass from Cameron Guy back to LHS backup Apramay Mishra and then again six minutes later on a one-timer from just outside of the 18-yard box.

“The thing that is so frustrating is the fact that we have to wait until we’re scored on twice before we really pick it up and start moving the ball forward,” LHS senior Brennan Davies said.

The Lions had the chance to do just that in the first minute when junior Cain Scott had an open net in front of him, but Trailblazers defender Dylan Mars made the save.

“The story of our season is not finishing early opportunities. When you don’t finish early opportunities, then you start pressing,” LHS coach Mike Murphy said. “You play nervous, you play tight, and you make mistakes.”

The Lions had plenty of opportunities to claw back into the game, as they had four free kicks in the attacking third in each half, but could not find a way to get the ball past Gardner-Edgerton goalkeeper Tavita Ploetz.

“The service is there whether it’s me, Piper (Hubbell) or Charlie (Carr) whipping the ball in,” Davies said. “It’s just the matter of, once it gets in the box, who wants it more? If you’re in the box making a run, you’ve got to know, ‘I’m the one getting on the end of this ball. I’m getting up and I’m going to win it.'”

That competitive spirit is something Murphy said the Lions have to find fast in order to turn the season around. Murphy felt that the Lions were progressing in the three-game stretch against Shawnee Mission Northwest, Shawnee Mission West and Shawnee Mission East, but took a major step backward against Gardner-Edgerton.

“I thought that even though the scoreboard didn’t go our way in two of the games, I thought we were competing, getting better, making improvements and I felt really positive about the direction of the team,” Murphy said.

The Trailblazers added an insurance goal in the 67th minute, when Carson Harding pushed the ball past Mishra.

Mishra will continue to fill in for Jeremiah Barbe for the Lions’ next two matchups, as the LHS starting keeper is sidelined after suffering a concussion in Thursday’s 3-1 loss to SM East.

Along with Barbe, centerback Sam Dykes and forward Avery German-Martinez are also banged up, and the wounded Lions have a quick turnaround game at 7 tonight against SM South at LHS.