Free State High’s boys soccer team made good use of its almost-home-field advantage, beating Leavenworth, 4-2, Tuesday in the Firebirds’ Class 6A regional opener at Jayhawk Soccer Complex.

“We came out stronger than them,” FSHS senior K.J. Siebert said. “I thought we controlled the ball for the most part, had a good couple of finishes up top and ended up with four goals at the end of the game, which is more than we’ve usually been finishing up in a game.”

The Firebirds (12-4-1) pounced on the Pioneers early, scoring the game’s first three goals and making it – wait, more difficult on Free State’s defense?

Fee State High's Alex Clayton (5) dribbles the ball against Leavenworth. The Firebirds beat the Pioneers, 4-2, in Class 6A Regional play Tuesday at Jayhawk Soccer Complex.

“The main thing that happens with that is, teams, when they get up 3-0, they stop thinking about offense so much, and they think more about defense,” Siebert said. “Which actually makes it so the defense has to do more work in the back, because they’re playing defense all the time instead of getting a break while we’re playing offense.”

Firebirds coach Jason Pendleton, however, had a different analysis.

“It gave us a little bit of a cushion and made them play with reckless abandon,” Pendleton said. “When you’re down 3-0, you have nothing to do but go forward.”

Mitchell Morrow, Eric Slan and Aaron Ideus scored the Firebirds’ early goals – Ideus’ on a penalty kick.

Luckily for Free State, because Leavenworth’s reckless play confused the FSHS defense and led to two Pioneers’ goals.

Free State High's Aaron Ideus, right, is congratulated after his goal by teammate Brian Bracciano. The Firebirds beat Leavenworth, 4-2, Tuesday at Jayhawk Soccer Complex.

“I think a big thing there is communication,” Firebird goalkeeper Brian Hatesohl said. “I think communication from myself and communication from the other people that can see the whole field.

“The defenders can see everybody in front of them, and I think if they give more instructions, myself included, we can sort it out and make sure we can get the ball where we need it to go.”

The Firebirds showed improvement from their earlier meeting against Leavenworth, a game in which they needed overtime to win, 2-1.

“To get four goals on them, I think is a testament to how well we played and took advantage of our opportunities,” Pendleton said, “which I thought we finished extremely well today.”

The Free State scoring barrage was capped early in the second half by an unassisted goal by Alex Clayton.

The win means the Firebirds live on, giving Free State’s eight seniors, who Pendleton said were key components, more time to play with a strong group of sophomores.

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“I think that core (of seniors) in the middle of the field is what we base everything around,” Siebert said. “And we have good sophomores. We have forwards up top, like Alex Clayton, who can put the ball in the back of the net faster than anybody else on the field, which helps out a lot.”

The Firebirds will get another shot at Topeka High in the regional finals Thursday, a team they battled to a 0-0 tie earlier in the season. Topeka also knocked Free State out of postseason play a year ago.

“We’re just excited about the opportunity to play another good team and to see what we’ve got among ourselves,” Pendleton said.