Tonganoxie ? Free State High’s Joel Angelone didn’t want his Firebird soccer teammates to endure a third straight tie Monday night.

Three minutes into Monday’s game against Tonganoxie, Angelone pasted a penalty kick past Chieftains goalie Luke Brown. To make sure, Angelone added two more scores, helping the Firebirds improve to 2-0-2 with a 4-0 victory.

“I was kind of sick of the ties,” Angelone said of the Firebirds’ two straight stalemates — a 0-0 tie against Lawrence High Tuesday and a 2-2 draw Saturday at home against Topeka Hayden. “It’s nice to finally get a win.”

Free State’s Drew Becker added support when he punched in a nifty diagonal pass from Aaron Ideus four minutes after Angelone’s first goal, giving FSHS a 2-0 lead.

Another score by Angelone, his sixth of the season, in the 13th minute gave the Firebirds complete control.

“He didn’t get a ton of opportunities tonight,” Free State coach Jason Pendleton said. “He knocked in a couple, and the ones he didn’t get were right there.”

After a rough outing against LHS last week, when Angelone misfired on several quality opportunities — including the potential game-winner in the final seconds — both Pendleton and Angelone said Angelone’s scoring stride was back.

Angelone tied Saturday’s rain-soaked game with Topeka Hayden. Monday, after missing his third goal with a strong strike in the middle of the second half, Angelone turned the hat trick when he collected a deflected ball in the Chieftains’ box and calmly snapped a point-blank cross past Brown.

“Scorers — and he’s a scorer — go through spurts where they’re really seeing the back of the net,” Pendleton said. “He’s doing that right now. “He stepped up huge Saturday with a game-tying goal, and he added three more tonight. He proved he’s capable of finishing when he really needs to.”

¢ 6Sports video: Free State soccer trips Tongie

Despite the lopsided win for Free State, Pendleton admired the Chieftains’ second-half competitiveness as they outshot the Firebirds 4-2, and stopped the type of uncontested shots Free State saw in the first half.

“You know when you play Tonganoxie that your always going to get a good, hard-fought battle,” Pendleton said of the 2-4 Chieftains. “They’re very physical, and every bit as good as athletes as we are.

“I think we have a few more kids who play soccer year-round than they do, but athletically you better show up, or you’re going to get beat. It’s nice to get a win.”