The Manhattan High boy’s soccer team faced Lawrence on Friday, tying them 1-1, but that wasn’t the outcome they were hoping for. The team was ranked third in state going into the game and was optimistic for a decisive victory. Late in the game, the boys had a lot of shots on the goal, but they were unable to pull ahead and win.

“We just couldn’t finish,” senior Elijah Jepsen said. “We had plenty of opportunities, we just had to get behind and get over the ball, we shot over a few times. We just have to get over it.”

Jepsen scored the team’s only goal in the beginning of the second half, assisted by senior Ben Choi.

“It was disappointing,” Jepsen said. “I felt like we deserved that game, but they came out and were strong, they’ve made adjustments since the summer.”

That feeling of discontent was shared throughout the team.

“We didn’t play as a team. We just didn’t play together out there,” senior Modou Faburay said.

There were some moments near the end of the game that stunted their progress. Faburay and senior Josh Bussmann went down at separate times and had to be taken out of the game. Bussmann went down just before Lawrence scored their goal. Both boys returned later and will be fine, but it was a stunt in their rhythm to have two starters have a scare.

The team felt like the atmosphere was electric for their season opener. The student section was full and cheered the team on throughout the entire game.  

“Best crowd I’ve seen at a soccer game in two years,” senior Cooper Blanck said. “I love the support.”

The boys are still very optimistic about the rest of the season despite their frustrating opener. For many of them, this is their last season. The senior-heavy team wants to keep working and get better.

“Yeah, [we’ll come out with a fire next time],” Faburay said. “It happens.”

Their next game is against Wichita West High School on Sept. 4 in Wichita.