Last season, Free State High was three victories away from winning the Kansas state championship, losing to the eventual state champion, Olathe East, in the quarterfinals.

This season, Free State returns the offensive firepower that brought it to that quarterfinal match, but will try to remake the defense that lost its back line and goalkeeper to graduation.

“It has been a work in progress,” said coach Jason Pendleton, who led the Firebirds to a 14-5-1 record last season. “Right now, the biggest concern we have is to sort out our own back line.”

One player who made the transition to the back line is two-year starter Greg Glatz. Glatz, a junior this season, started his first two years as a forward. Glatz now will have a defensive role for Free State, looking to solidify an inexperienced defense. Pendleton knows it will take time for the defense to gel but will rely on Glatz to make that transition easier.

“He can do pretty much anything on the field, and more importantly, he is ready to help us defensively and does not have any offensive aspirations. He just wants to make the team better,” Pendleton said. “He is just a rock-solid kid and will do anything you ask. He puts the team first and himself second.”

Pendleton also will look to seniors Drew Schelar, Travis Everett and Andrew Heck to be vocal this season.

Despite the inexperience in the back, Pendleton plans to start the attack from the defense.

Lawrence High senior midfielder Kyle Craig, left, and Free State High senior defender Travis Everett are being counted on by coaches and teammates to lead their squads through the tough Sunflower League in 2006.

While the defense may struggle early, two juniors, Alex Clayton and Erik Flan, will anchor the team up front. Clayton uses his speed to score and was a second-team all-state selection last season.

“It looks like he is better than he was last year. Certainly, he is very dangerous,” Pendleton said of Clayton.

While Pendleton would love to advance far in the state tournament again, he said that his team had not set that goal as of yet. He would like for his team just to play sound soccer.

While Free State will be replacing its entire defense, crosstown rival Lawrence High returns all but three starters from last year’s team and hopes to build on a disappointing season full of close losses.

“The seniors are ready to try to compete and hopefully move up to the next level of competition. We competed against teams last year and kept games close,” Lions’ coach David Platt said. “This year, hopefully we can turn the corner in keeping them close and get a few victories.”

Platt will rely on senior goalkeeper Collin Flanders to keep the games close. Flanders has been Lawrence High’s starting goalkeeper for two seasons.

“He is just a kid with great reaction time. He works really hard,” Platt said.

Flanders’ season was cut short last year, when he suffered a concussion, but Platt had now-senior David Liston to fill in. Liston is also looking to challenge Flanders for playing time this year.

“They both compete really well. They both gel really well with each other to raise the bar,” Platt said. “It’s nice to have competition at that position because they just make each other better.”

Platt said the team’s forwards were still working for starting spots but he expected the offense to be improved this season.

“This year we certainly would like to be better in the win-loss column,” Platt said. “The ultimate goal as a coach is to get your kids to improve and to play hard, and you hope that winning takes care of itself from there.”

Platt knows that improving in the Sunflower League is a challenge because of the level of competition that they go against week in and week out.

“This league is one of the best soccer leagues in the midwest,” Platt said. “Even our crosstown rival, Free State, has been a force in the league the past few years.”

The Lions will open their season tonight at home against Manhattan High.