It’s only fitting that, in order to advance in this year’s regional soccer playoffs, the Free State Firebirds needed a few overtimes.

After all, in the 16 games leading up to Tuesday’s first-round regional contest, the Firebirds had played in seven overtime contests, including five that ended in ties.

“The good thing about going to overtime in a game like this is that we kind of know the drill,” Free State coach Jason Pendleton said. “We’ve played in a lot of overtime games this year and because of that we didn’t panic.”

Instead, the Firebirds kept their composure and dominated the three extra sessions. Tuesday’s home matchup against Topeka High probably should have ended in the first overtime. It definitely should have ended in the second. And it finally did, 1:11 into the third, when junior Daniel Chance lofted a pass to Diego Gonzalez, who volleyed the game-winner into the back of the net for a 1-0, triple-overtime victory.

The winning play was not unlike many that came before it. All afternoon the Firebirds put pressure on the Topeka net, only to see Trojans goalkeeper David Wang keep his team in the game.

First there was a sliding save on Chance at 4:46 of the first overtime. After fighting his way past the final defender Chance had a one-on-one situation with Wang. But as he attempted to chip the ball over Wang’s sprawling body, Wang smothered the shot and play continued.

Then there was Chance’s header at 7:45 of the second overtime. With Free State’s offense pushing the Topeka High defenders back on their heels, Gonzalez lofted a pass to the center of the box, where Chance leapt and connected with a perfect header on the doorstep of the goal. Somehow, Wang got some part of his body on the shot and pushed the ball above the crossbar.

“I swear that one was in,” Chance said. “I have no idea how he saved that. I couldn’t believe it.”

Lastly, with time winding down in the second OT, Chance again raced toward the net to create another FSHS scoring opportunity. This time, as the ball bounced high into the air, Wang came out to challenge, forcing Chance to flick the ball over Wang’s left shoulder with the outside part of his right foot. It looked like the game-winner, but THS’s John Copeland raced to the goal line and cleared the ball before it crossed the line.

With each near-miss, the game seemed destined to be decided by penalty kicks.

“My assistants and I had even drawn up our lineup on the sideline,” Pendleton said.

They didn’t needed it. Shortly after the third overtime began, sophomore Preston Newsome pushed the ball up the field to a charging Chance. Somehow, after more than 100 minutes of running, Chance still had something left in his tank, as he outraced, outmuscled and outwilled a Topeka High defender to control the ball at the end line. As the two players charged hard toward the THS goal, Chance got a foot on the ball and pulled it back. With the defense out of position, he crossed a perfect pass to Gonzalez, who stood unmarked in the middle. With one swift motion of his right leg, Gonzalez gave the Firebirds victory.

“We practice that a lot,” Gonzalez said. “We practice that play just about every day. It’s ridiculous how many times we’ve gone to overtime this year, but it didn’t matter today. We just wanted to win.”

The victory not only advanced the Firebirds (7-5-5) to Thursday’s regional championship game at top-seeded Washburn Rural, it also sent four FSHS seniors out on a high note.

After the hard-fought victory, seniors Tyler Hatesohl, Dale Shillington, Brock Norwood and Parker Liebl were honored for their contributions to the program.