Free State soccer players, from left Amanda Moyer (4), Caroline Mayhew, (3) and Regan Kahler (17) celebrate Mayhew’s first-half goal past the Shawnee Mission North goalkeeper. The Firebirds won, 2-1, Tuesday at Free State High.

Free State High junior soccer player Caroline Mayhew knows that she could have — perhaps even should have — scored another goal or two during the Firebirds’ 2-1 victory against Shawnee Mission North on Tuesday at FSHS.

But, with Tuesday being Mayhew’s birthday and all, she was completely content to crack the score column once with her first goal of the season.

“This was awesome,” Mayhew said. “I was hoping for a win, especially since this game was the first one we’ve played in nice weather. But to get a goal, too, just made it even better.”

Mayhew’s goal came early on and was the result of a heads-up play by a couple of her teammates.

With the Firebirds controlling the pace of play throughout the first 12 minutes of the game, Mayhew, an attacking midfielder, became a little more bold with each FSHS attack.

Finally, with teammate Hillary Yoder streaking down the near sideline with the ball during a transition opportunity, Mayhew supported the attack just as she was taught to do. When Yoder fired a pass to the box, the FSHS sophomore noticed that Regan Kahler was offsides and would not have been able to play the ball. Instead of standing by quietly, Yoder instructed Kahler to let it go. That’s when Mayhew stepped up.

“When I heard Hillary call Regan off, I figured I might as well push up and support just in case.”

It turned out to be a great decision. Seconds later, Mayhew found the ball at her feet and, in an instant, she slipped a low liner past the Shawnee Mission North goalkeeper to give the Firebirds a 1-0 lead 15 minutes into the game.

Ten minutes later a similar scenario unfolded when Kylee Loneker found Madisyn Warinner in front of the net for a one-timer that made the score 2-0 Firebirds.

“That’s two things we haven’t seen out here much this year,” FSHS coach Jason Pendleton said. “Goals and sunshine.”

Pendleton and Mayhew both said the two-goal lead gave the Firebirds a false sense of security and SM North made sure to take advantage. With four minutes to play in the first half, North’s Karly Schleicher lofted a perfectly placed shot from 30 yards away into the upper left-hand corner of the FSHS net, over the outstretched arms of Free State goaltender Mariah Dickson.

“Minus a 10- to 12-minute period in the first half, I thought we were relentless and that we worked really hard,” Pendleton said. “That’s what we’re going to have to do this year to win. We’re going to have to outwork teams. Who knows, when we’ve been behind 2-0 this year, we haven’t come back and scored so maybe we assumed it would be the same thing for them.”

Schleicher’s goal made things interesting in the second half, but every time North threatened to tie the score, Dickson stepped up to the challenge. In the first 15 minutes of the half alone, she was tested twice but planted herself in perfection position to make the save each time. Then, with 7:45 to play, she outraced Samantha Wilkes to the ball on a breakaway, securing the save before colliding with Wilkes near the top of the box.

“It was a pretty physical game,” Mayhew said. “But I think that kind of helped us be a little more intense.”

Dickson’s colliding save sparked a strong finish from the Free State offense. Worn down by the nature of the physical contest, Free State (2-3-1) just missed on three or four quality scoring chances in the final seven minutes, slamming the door on any hopes SMN had for a comeback.

“We dominated the last few minutes,” Mayhew said. “And even though we didn’t score as many goals as we probably should have, it was nice to get those opportunities. That was a lot more chances than we’ve had in most games.”