Alexa Harmon-Thomas may be one of the toughest girls playing soccer in Lawrence.

Harmon-Thomas, Kaw Valley Force 10U forward and defender, helped her team beat the 12U Crush, 8-1, Saturday at Youth Sports Inc. And she played the entire game with sprained fingers wrapped in a splint on her right hand.

Harmon-Thomas said she played while injured for the benefit of her Force teammates.

“I played with sprained fingers because we wouldn’t have had any subs if I didn’t play,” Harmon-Thomas said. “Plus, I just really like playing.”

Harmon-Thomas and her teammates set the tone of the game right out of the gates. Kaitlin Dunbar, Force attacker, took the ball from midfield all the way to the net to score the first goal of the game. Dunbar added two additional goals in the first half.

Late in the first half, Harmon-Thomas toughed out her pain and scored a goal of her own to leave the score 5-0 headed into halftime. She came out strong in the second half as well, netting the first goal of the half.

The Crush showed their resiliency when they were down 6-0. Some teams may stop trying, but not the Crush.

Crush forward Kirsten McKay received a cross from the far side of the field and booted it into the back of the net for the Crush’s first score.

The Crush kept up their offensive attack, and if it weren’t for the efforts of Force goalie Olivia Hodison, the Crush may have scored more goals.

The talent of the Force players carried them to victory. In the second half, Maren Kahler and Logan Brown, Force forwards, scored the last two goals of the game, making the final score 8-1.

Forward Alexa-Harmon Thomas beat the Crush goalie to score for the 10U Force. Harmon-Thomas played Saturday at Youth Sports Inc. with a splint on her hand.

Shelby Holmes, the second-half goalie for the Crush, stopped two point-blank shots from the Force.

Sarah Garcia, head coach of the Force, said she used this game to improve on some of her team’s fundamentals.

“We focused on passing in this game, and that’s what we’ll work on in practice this week also,” Garcia said. “Passing and possession were areas we worked on today, especially passing backwards and moving the ball around without dribbling too much.”

Improving the Force’s passing will only help an already explosive offense. When that offense is anchored by Harmon-Thomas, one of the toughest girls around, it makes for a well-rounded soccer team.