Free State's Nathan Ideus (3) leads the charge to the ball ahead of Olathe Northwest's Josh Bush. Free State won, 2-1, Tuesday at Free State.

Nobody on Free State High’s boys soccer team wants to run a Big Nine.

Ever.

“It’s like physical endurance activity,” midfielder Tyler Hatesohl said. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“It is a grueling running punishment for making stupid mental errors,” midfielder Andrew Heck said.

Actually, the Big Nine consists of running the length of a 120-yard soccer field several times backward, while stopping to do bear crawls and push-ups every five yards.

So when Firebirds head coach Jason Pendleton threatened his team with the Big Nine treatment during a heated few minutes midway through the second half of their 2-1 victory against Olathe Northwest Tuesday afternoon at Free State, the players took notice.

“We’ve just got to keep our mouths shut and let coach take care of it,” Heck said.

The griping ceased long enough for Heck to place a perfect through ball from midfield to Hatesohl in the 64th minute that resulted in Hatesohl’s second goal of the game. It was a shot from the left of the goal post past charging Ravens goalkeeper Gabe Bliss.

The goals gave Hatesohl three on the season and proved to be the difference, although Free State (4-1) had other opportunities to score.

Forward Erik Slan had a penalty kick blocked in the 67th minute, and the Firebirds appeared to score another goal when forward Alex Clayton’s shot seemingly rolled over the goal line before being picked up by Bliss. But the referees ruled otherwise.

Free State started badly, though, allowing a goal in the fourth minute on a header in the goalie box by forward Justin Ziegler.

Hatesohl responded with a chip shot over Bliss eight minutes later that turned the game around.

“It’s pretty big for us being down a goal to come back and get a tying goal off a great finish from Tyler Hatesohl,” Pendleton said. “I think after the first 10 minutes when they were taking it to us, we were pretty good and created far more dangerous opportunities and scoring chances.”

Despite playing more organized in the second half, Free State’s players still were bickering with referees over several questionable foul calls. That was something Hatesohl knew would hurt his team if it continued.

“Coach will definitely lay down the law the next day at practice,” he said. “We had to stay calm and play the game.”

Pendleton implored his team to keep its cool, even if the Firebirds weren’t agreeing with a officials’ decisions.

“The big thing for us is to always learn that we’ve got to play with our heads and consistently do the right things at the right times,” Pendleton said. “It was a situation where things were getting a little bit chippy and we wanted to make sure our kids were focused.”

Olathe Northwest (3-2) had one last chance to tie with four minutes remaining on midfielder Tony Weber’s free kick from outside the penalty area. The kick bent around Free State’s wall of players, and goalkeeper Frank Hurtig saved it to preserve the victory.

Pendleton was glad his team found a way to squeak out another Sunflower League victory.

But you can bet he’ll keep the Big Nine card up his sleeve for a later date.