Emporia High gave up a goal in the first minute on Friday at Wichita East and could never recover, losing 1-0.
The Spartans struggled in the first half for their second straight game. Wichita East outshot EHS 12-1 in the first half, but thanks to goalie Melanie Nuessen, the Spartans were still in the game.
Nuessen nearly kept Wichita East off the scoreboard entirely. In the first minute, East got off a shot from the right side that Nuessen saved, but she lost control of the ball and East scored on the rebound.
The Spartans helped ease the pressure on Nuessen in the second half, outshooting East 8-5. The Spartans had three great chances at a goal. One shot hit the crossbar and one was on the goal line, but never crossed it and East cleared the ball before it could cross. The Spartans had another chance when the ball bounced across the front of the goal and then was kicked over the crossbar.
“In our last two games we have played poorly in one half,” EHS coach John Decker said. “The teams we are playing are just too good for that to happen. The positive from this game is that we know that we can turn things around, we just can’t dig ourselves a hole like that every game.”
The Spartans fell to 3-2 with the loss.