Lawrence High junior Will Yanek collides with Shawnee Mission North sophomore goalie Blake Taylor in overtime of the Lions' 1-1 tie against the Indians on Thursday at LHS.

Lawrence High boys soccer coach Mike Murphy was very matter-of-fact with his team following the Lions’ 1-1 tie against Shawnee Mission North on Thursday at LHS.

“Who wants it more?” Murphy asked his team. “That’s all it is.”

While the Lions (1-2-2) did strike first in the fifth minute when senior Ben Matthews found the back of the net following a corner kick that was sent in by Cole Shupert, they didn’t play with the energy that Murphy expected out of them. The Lions had plenty of chances to add to their lead, as they out-shot the Indians, 27-7, but they couldn’t push another past SM North sophomore keeper Blake Taylor.

Taylor, SM North coach Jaime Velez and a slew of Indians defenders were up in arms about Matthews’ goal because they believed it went off of his hand. Murphy, on the other hand, was very pleased to see that the Lions scored off of a set piece, since they had been working diligently on them in practice. Murphy’s mood only went south as the match went on, though, as the Lions failed to convert on a multitude of scoring chances.

“We had a lot of opportunities tonight. We didn’t shoot well,” Murphy said. “We did not shoot well tonight, and we do finishing drills every single day in practice. That’s something that I think again comes back to just a lack of focus. The guys weren’t focused anywhere on the field, including in front of the net.”

The Indians (0-5-1) had a golden opportunity of their own to tie it with 10 minutes left in the first half when Sam Goldman got behind the Lawrence back line for a 1-on-1 chance against LHS junior goalie Ross Brungardt. However, Goldman fired his shot over the crossbar, and the Lions took a 1-0 lead into the break.

LHS continued to win the possession battle when play resumed, but SM North was able to make the most of its best scoring chance in the second half. The Indians’ goal also came off of a corner kick when Aron Acedo drilled one past Brungardt with 24:15 remaining in regulation.

“Guys just lose their marks in situations like that, which is why we talk about set piece plays (and) how set piece plays are such a great opportunity,” Murphy said. “If you can get the ball into that mix and get that ball back on the ground — it’s not always always the first ball because the keeper can read a ball in the air, obviously. It’s get that ball down on the ground where it’s in the mix and somebody can just put it in. That’s kind of what happened. Kudos to them for being able to do that.”

The corner that led to Acedo’s goal was one of two that the Indians had for the whole match, while the Lions racked up 10 of them. The Lions thought they had another goal off of a set piece when sophomore Mason Anderson blasted a shot from just inside of the 6-yard box past Taylor with three minutes remaining in overtime. Anderson began to celebrate with his teammates, only to find out a few seconds later that the goal was waved off due to the Lions being offside.

Although Anderson’s goal did not count, Lawrence High still was playing a man up for the remainder of overtime and double overtime since SM North junior defender Sam Cramer was sent off with 3:10 left in the first extra period due to foul language.

Cramer had been an instrumental piece of the SM North back line in front of Taylor, who made 15 saves, but the Indians were able to weather the storm and hold on for the tie.

Murphy made sure to give credit where it was due following the match, as he lauded the Indians (0-5-1) for the improvements that they made since he last saw them. Lawrence High defeated SM North, 6-1, last season.

“That team is much improved from years past. They were playing hard. This is a second-year coach. Jaime (Velez), he’s doing a great job over there,” Murphy said. “I want to really compliment them, too, on how hard they played. It’s not always that you play bad. Sometimes the other team is playing well. They came out with fire and energy and fought and scrapped to keep the game close until they could get a goal to tie it up. You’ve got to really compliment them, too.”

The Lions will remain on their home turf when they take on SM East at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at LHS.