For the first 39 minutes Tuesday, Lawrence High’s boys soccer players were happy with their defense against Shawnee Mission East, which liked to push the pace with its speedy forwards.

It was the last minute that the Lions wished they could have back.

SM East scored with 10 seconds remaining in the first half when senior forward Bennett Meeds caught a cross inside of the 18-yard box. Meeds had one shot deflected, but simply struck the ball again and watched it curve into the back of the net.

Lawrence spent the rest of the night trying to create its own offense in a 3-0 loss at LHS.

“It’s tough to give up a goal, especially that late in the half,” said senior defender Robbie Kleibohmer. “It’s not very good for morale. But I think the 39 minutes and 30 seconds that we played before that was good.”

Opening the second half with a one-goal deficit, the Lions (1-3-2) ramped up their offensive pressure in their new 4-3-3 formation and controlled possession in the midfield through senior Dario Ramirez, junior Cole Shupert and junior Will Yanek. Senior Ben Matthews played striker at the top of the formation, with the team hoping to use his height to their advantage.

The Lions finished with 10 shots, including eight on net, but couldn’t find the game-tying score, despite strong attempts from senior Quentin Harrington, freshman Alec Murphy and senior Anton Martinez de Velasco.

“Too many times, though, we’re making the goalkeeper look good by playing the ball right to him,” LHS coach Mike Murphy said.

During the game, Mike Murphy held a clipboard to chart the number of offensive opportunities, key turnovers and other plays created by each player.

“We need to be more aggressive,” the coach said. “We need to take more risks. We need to think more aggressively in terms of where the ball is being played, moving off of the ball. We have to create more in that offensive third.”

With under 21 minutes remaining, the Lancers (5-2, 3-0 in Sunflower League) added an insurance goal. Meeds nearly had a breakaway down the field, but was chased by senior defender Ja’Melle Dye. Inside of the 18-yard box, Meeds dished a pass to Erin Eksinar, who drilled a shot into the left corner of the net.

SM East midfielder Davin Cox scored another goal with 12:46 left.

“I think it’s communication is where we broke down the most,” said Kleibohmer, who patrolled the back line of the defense alongside Dye, Gary Schmidt, Trey Hulse and Matteo Kalusha-Aguirre. “We didn’t finish the shots we had, but I think our effort was there.”

The Lions, who dropped to 0-2-1 in league play, will travel to Olathe West at 6:15 p.m. Thursday.