Firebirds can’t answer Hawks’ rally – Olathe east 3, Free State 1

Perhaps a halftime contest proved to be a bad omen for the Free State High soccer team on Tuesday.

The Firebirds surrendered two second-half goals, falling 3-1 in a home match against Sunflower League rival Olathe East.

The Hawks’ offensive spurt came after an Olathe East cheerleader won $1,000 in a halftime contest by knocking a ball on the goal line into the net with another ball kicked from midfield.

More than 40 contestants this season, mostly Free State fans, have failed at the halftime contest.

“That’s OK,” Firebird coach Jason Pendleton said. “I’m excited that somebody won it.”

Olathe East won pretty much everything else, too.

Olathe East scored three unanswered goals after falling behind early, improving their record to 5-7 on the season. Free State dropped to 7-3-2.

“They’re a good team,” East coach Terry Hair said. “They’ll be my pick to come out of the central region along with Washburn Rural.”

The Firebirds took a 1-0 lead 15 minutes into the game when junior Joel Angelone fired a shot past Hawks’ goalkeeper Matt Elder. Kayvon Sarraf provided the assist.

“We got the first goal, and it looked good,” Pendleton said. “We got some other good scoring opportunities after that.”

Luck wasn’t on Free State’s side, though. Just 10 minutes later, Sarraf took a pass from Angelone and fired a shot off the left post. Free State’s Chris Hoffman knocked another one off the crossbar in the second half, but no goals came out of either opportunity.

Free State High's Kayvon Sarraf, left, struggles for the ball against Olathe East's Mike Sloop on Tuesday at Free State.

“The difference in this game was four inches,” Hawk coach Terry Hair said. “If those go in, it’s a whole different story.”

Olathe East (5-7) fought back and tied the game 1-1 with 3:49 left in the first half when Garret Jones snuck a soft shot past Free State goalkeeper Justin Howell, who had nine saves.

Jones added Olathe East’s final goal as well, scoring on a booming shot from 20 yards out. The two-goal lead held up, and gave Free State a bit of a jolt heading into Thursday’s match with Olathe North.

“I thought we competed very well,” Pendleton said. “However, we got burned on the mistakes we did make.”

So did Laird Noller and the Kansas City Wizards, sponsors of the halftime contest, for selling a winning raffle ticket to an Olathe East cheerleader with a deadly-accurate foot.

“That’s pretty exciting,” Pendleton said with a laugh. “It was an awesome shot.”

Olathe East 3, Free State 1

Olathe East 1 2 3

Free State 1 0 1

First Half

FS: Joel Angelone (Kayvon Sarraf) 14:07

OE: Garret Jones (Jake Reaves) 36:11

Second Half

OE: Cameron Selman (Ben Thomason) 46:37

OE: Garret Jones (Jacob McMahon) 68:43