Just when midfielder Jake Funck appeared to have a chance at a breakaway goal, the offside flag went up from the near-side judge.

The flag admittedly went up in error, but officials refused to reverse the call and awarded Lee’s Summit North a free kick. In the ensuing run of play, Lee’s Summit North tallied a third goal and added two more in quick succession during a 7-1 victory Wednesday night at The Den.

Central’s young squad seemed to unravel after the mistake against a physical Lee’s Summit North team that committed 16 fouls and drew two yellow cards.

“They’re going to make a call, either it be a good or bad call,” Central coach Mark Peterson said. “We still need to refocus and play the game.”

Central (1-8-0) never recovered from the errant offside call.

Lee’s Summit North’s Chad Newman tallied his first of three goals after the nullification of Funck’s breakaway in the 53rd minute. Randon Schleiden made it 4-0 in the same minute off Central defender Michael Lindsay’s turnover in his own half.

Schleiden then added his second 4 minutes later to put Central down 5-0.

Central answered with its only goal in the 68th minute when freshman Aldo Covarrubias’ cross from the right found sophomore forward Ty Bigelow on the far post. Bigelow’s shot — one of only two for the Indians and the only one on goal — beat Andrew Bagget for a brief respite from LSN’s onslaught.

But Newman added goals in the 71st and 76th minute to complete his hat trick.

“It was nice to put one away,” Peterson said. “But we had some opportunities to put some others away and didn’t get it done.”

Central goalkeeper David Catherall yielded all seven goals but made 12 saves, including a diving stop where he ranged to his left on a Newman breakaway early in the second half. Lee’s Summit North tallied 28 shots, 19 on goal.

Catherall proved especially effective during the first half.

Playing into a stiff westerly wind, Central managed no offense — hindered by four offsides calls — in the opening 40 minutes but managed to slow Lee’s Summit North’s finishing early. But Catherall’s fourth save of the half punched the ball back into play, and defender Bobby Sloan’s clear ended up in the back of his own net in the 21st minute.

Eleven minutes later, a Catherall bobble put the ball back into play just outside of his own net, and Lee’s Summit North’s Michael Oakley beat Catherall before he could recover for a 2-0 Broncos’ lead.

Those were the only two goals for Lee’s Summit North in the first half, but Central couldn’t take advantage of playing with the wind after halftime, despite improvements on holding possession.

“Defense really held strong,” Catherall said. “Did the best we could, slowed them down and stopped a lot of their opportunities.

“If we keep on doing what we’re doing, we’ll get better, and we’ll improve.”