Firebirds trounce Jays

Free State makes short work of Junction City, 7-0

Losing a sweeper can devastate a soccer team, but the Free State High boys may have lost Cameron Baumchen at the most opportune time.

Firebirds coach Jason Pendleton replaced Baumchen who broke his leg during a 6-0 victory against Leavenworth on Tuesday with Bryan Spangler and Andrew Becker on Thursday and salvaged a 1-1 draw against Lawrence High.

The pair again split time at the position on Saturday, but didn’t see much action in a 7-0 thrashing of Junction City at the FSHS field.

“I’m getting more used to it,” Spangler said of playing sweeper. “I started out a little shaky in the LHS game but I’m getting more relaxed back there and understanding what I need to do.

“I’ve been talking with Cam and coach and they’ve been giving me a lot of help on what position I need to be in certain situations.”

Spangler didn’t spend much time on defense against the Blue Jays, moving to midfield about 20 minutes into the game and scoring the Firebirds’ third goal shortly thereafter.

“We’ve been trying to find what works the best, where people need to be playing and who needs to be on the field,” Spangler said. “Once we get set in he (Pendleton) moves me up and we see if we can get a little more offense.”

The Firebirds (5-2-2) didn’t need much against the Blue Jays, outshooting them 29-5, scoring four goals in each half and showing no sign of a letdown after Thursday’s tie.

Free State's Andrew Huffman, left, watches his first-half goal. The Firebirds rolled to a 7-0 victory over Junction City on Saturday at FSHS.

“Coming off our game against Lawrence High, a real emotional game, I was really pleased my kids came out sharp and focused,” Pendleton said, “and did a really nice job of moving the ball around and improving on the things we struggled with a little against Lawrence High.”

After Free State had scored just four goals in its last four games not counting the Leavenworth rout Saturday’s romp may be just what the team needs to get out of its offensive doldrums.

“It’s all relative to the amount of chances you get, but we felt we were getting opportunities and were maybe just a step off or so,” Pendleton said. “Today we finished, and anytime you get a taste of scoring goals you hope that will carry over to the next game.”

Zak Sears scored two goals for the Firebirds, and Andrew Huffman, Aaron Ideus, Brian Ozorkewicz and Joel Angelone also scored.