Olathe South's Bryce Daney hits a header over Lawrence High's defense off of a corner kick during a regional soccer match on Tuesday at Olathe District Activity Center.

OLATHE — When Lawrence High’s boys soccer players prepared for Tuesday’s game against Olathe South in the first round of regionals, they knew it was important to set a tone in the first few minutes.

Instead, it quickly turned into a nightmare of a start.

Olathe South scored two goals in the first 10 minutes and the Lions couldn’t recover in an eventual 4-1 loss at the Olathe District Activity Center. Lawrence freshman Mason Anderson scored the team’s lone goal with 13 minutes remaining.

“It’s hard to get the energy back,” LHS junior midfielder Cole Shupert said.

The Falcons (14-2-1) used their talented offense to accumulate 32 shots, including 22 on goal. Along with their four goals, they had two shots deflect off of the cross bar, another off of the post.

O-South sophomore Bryce Daney scored the first two goals and senior Tristan DeLeon added another goal in the first half on a penalty kick.

In an effort to try to create offense in the first half, the Lions played in a 3-5-2 formation, which only kept three defenders on the backline. Senior Dario Ramirez had a shot fly wide of the net. Senior Ben Matthews had the best scoring chance, sliding for a shot in front of the net on a loose ball. O-South’s goalkeeper Bennett Shipley was in the perfect position for a highlight save.

“It’s pretty hard to come back when they put a couple in really quickly,” Matthews said. “But you have to keep fighting.”

At halftime, the Lions talked about playing better for the team’s seven seniors — Matthews, Ramirez, Joseph Minder, Robbie Kleibohmer, Quentin Harrington, Ja’Melle Dye and Anton Martinez de Velasco. Coaches stressed that they needed to be stronger with the ball and more physical.

“We just decided not to let the seniors go out on a bad note,” Shupert said.

The Falcons still created plenty of opportunities on offense, but the Lions were much more aggressive defensively. Lawrence coach Mike Murphy said he was pleased with the team’s improved passing in the second half, along with strong defense from Matthews, Kleibhomer and Dye.

“I love how the seniors responded and how they brought these guys back and kept them in the game,” Murphy said. “Playing hard, particularly in the middle. … I was really happy with those guys and how they played.”

The Lions set up their lone goal on a cross into the 18-yard box from sophomore Kanak Masten, which deflected off of junior Will Yanek. The ball landed in the perfect spot for Anderson, who drilled the ball into the back of the net, rewarding the team for their efforts in the final 40 minutes.

With a strong group of freshmen and sophomores, the Lions (5-9-3) are confident that this season will help them in the future.

Junior goalkeeper Ross Brungardt, in his first season protecting the net, had 18 saves. Murphy called him an “intimidating” presence with his height and length in the net, noting he’s improved all season at catching shots to avoid rebound chances.

“I think we’ve got a bright future ahead of us with a lot of these guys,” Murphy said. “It should be fun.”