photo by: Chris Duderstadt

Lawrence High senior Maria Duncan makes a pass during the Lions' 1-1 tie against Shawnee Mission Northwest on Tuesday at LHS.

After giving up a goal in the fourth minute on a Shawnee Mission Northwest free kick, the Lawrence High back line buckled down once again to keep the Lions in it.

The Cougars held the one-goal lead for the next 70 minutes, but weren’t able to add another to finish off the feisty Lions. The best scoring chance of the match for the Lions came with 6:33 remaining on a free kick from 20 yards out, and Maria Duncan put it in back of the net for the equalizer.

The Lions and Cougars remained deadlocked at 1-1 for the remainder of regulation and two overtime periods to send Lawrence to its third straight tie.

“We’re showing some resilience, which is good. We talked about kind of having that fight and having the heart to continue games even when we’re down,” LHS coach Matt McCune said. “We’ve been struggling scoring goals all year. A good chunk of them have come off of free kicks and set pieces because we do have a couple of ladies who are pretty good at it.”

Whether it’s been on free kicks or corner kicks, Duncan has been the go-to player for the Lions (1-6-3) on set pieces in recent games. Duncan picked up an assist in the Lions’ 1-1 tie against Free State on Thursday when she sent in a corner kick on Anna Chieu’s header with 10 minutes to go. Duncan took matters into her own hands with the free kick from the top of the box against the Cougars.

“I just had to think about the wind and I had to focus and make sure I kept my head down,” Duncan said.

The Cougars’ goal also came off a free kick that was headed in by Brooke Haley. Junior varsity goalie Cimone Fuller was called upon on short notice to play in the varsity match after starter Victoria Mosakowski injured her back lifting weights. Fuller made her best saves down the stretch — including on a shot from 35 yards out from Lauren Sanders that was on target. The LHS junior keeper adjusted to the wind before making a jab at it for the save.

“It wasn’t the hard velocity on the shot, but this wind is swirling,” McCune said. “So anything from outside the box, that wind is going to mess with it. She read the trajectory on it and she did a great job.”

The Lions will conclude their three-game homestand at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against Olathe North.

“After the Free State game, we’ve kept our intensity,” Duncan said. “We can only go up from here. I’m really proud of my team.”