Free State sophomore Hannah Carlson, left, and Lawrence High senior Stef Stuever hustle for the ball during the first half. LHS won, 1-0, Thursday at Lawrence High.

Shortly after its 1-0 victory against Free State on Thursday at Lawrence High, the LHS girls soccer team was treated to a round of nostalgia courtesy of LHS athletic director and longtime Lion Ron Commons.

Commons, who played and coached at LHS prior to becoming the AD, talked to the girls about the importance of the victory, what it meant today and what it would mean in the future.

“I really didn’t think about it until he said that,” LHS junior Kaley Tesdahl said. “But now that I do, I think it’s really cool that we won our first game on the turf and that it was against Free State.”

Who could blame her for overlooking the long-range magnitude of the game? After all, in addition to playing the first official game on the football field’s new turf (a soccer-only stadium will be in place next season), it was Senior Night for a handful of LHS seniors, and the Lions were playing their crosstown rivals. The only place that was apparent was on the scoreboard. Otherwise, the Lions completely controlled the pace of play and physically outmuscled the Firebirds all afternoon.

“I think the 1-0 score was a little deceiving,” FSHS coach Jason Pendleton said. “We felt like they physically dominated the entire contest.”

Lawrence High had its way with the Firebirds in most areas. Playing on the plush new turf, the Lions flashed their possession skills and continually worked intricate passing schemes up the field on their offensive attacks. The problem for LHS, however, was converting, particularly in the second half, where the Lions made run after run at the FSHS net but could not knock a ball into the net.

“The cross Marley Sutter gave me was just so beautiful,” said LHS freshman Natalie Wilkins, who had her head near three or four scoring chances but could not connect. “And then we had another one a few minutes later, but it happened to be to me again, and I’m so short. I was in the right spot, but my timing was a little off.”

Luckily for the Lions, Tesdahl’s timing was spot-on midway through the first half. Her goal gave the Lions the lead and complete control.

“I think that broke them down a little bit and got them down on themselves,” LHS goalkeeper Emma Lumpe said. “That just made the rest of the game easier for us.”

After a lengthy feeling-out process to open the game — with the Lions calculating their attack and the Firebirds hoping to beat the defense over the top — LHS earned a corner kick from the far side of the field. Senior Stef Stuever lofted a high lob into the box and watched as it bounced off of a couple of bodies in front of the net and landed softly near Tesdahl. In one motion, Tesdahl turned and slipped a shot inside the right post, past FSHS goalkeeper Elena Auer, whose vision was blocked on the play.

“It came right to my feet,” Tesdahl said. “I just turned and shot.”

With the victory, the Lions improved to 7-7. Free State fell to 5-9-2. The two teams will meet again next week in the first round of regionals, with the fourth-seeded Lions playing host to the fifth-seeded Firebirds. That game is tentatively scheduled to be played at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Youth Sports, Inc., the Lions’ traditional home field.

“I’m glad we got this win,” Lumpe said. “It was nice to see everyone come out with intensity and play hard from the start. We’re going to need an even stronger effort against them next week because we know they’re going to come out four times as hard at regionals.”