Free State High junior Will Laufer and Olathe East junior Logan Steen (8) get tangled up as they chase after the ball during their soccer match Tuesday evening at FSHS. The Firebirds fell to the Eagles, 5-1.

Slow starts have plagued Free State High’s boys soccer team for most of the season, and it was no different against Olathe East on Tuesday.

The Hawks scored two goals in the first 26 minutes of the first half, and the Firebirds couldn’t recover in a 5-1 loss at FSHS.

“When you go two goals down, it creates a whole bunch of problems already for yourself,” Free State coach Kelly Barah said. “We snatched the one goal back (in the second half), but it was always going to be a tough climb from there.”

The Firebirds (7-4-1) had trouble moving the ball past midfield against O-East’s defense, which has a lot of speed and strength. That strength made it a physical game for both sides, with more than five yellow cards issued between the two schools.

Meanwhile, the Hawks showed their talent on offense, holding possession of the ball for the majority of the match. That helped the Hawks to score twice in the first half and once in the first two minutes of the second half, as they took advantage when Free State defenders dove for the ball and missed. O-East senior Mark VanLandingham and sophomore Julien Denis both scored two goals.

Midway through the second half, Free State junior Will Laufer drilled a free kick near the right post, and senior Daniel Clarke jumped high to head the ball past O-East’s goalkeeper for the score.

“Whenever we have a free kick from about 30 yards out, me and Will know that I’m going to make that front post run and I’m going to try to be there,” Clarke said. “It’s the second time it’s worked so we’re going to keep on trying to do that.”

Though the Firebirds made adjustments throughout the match, it was another slow start that proved to be costly.

“Our intensity, we didn’t think we brought it early enough,” Barah said. “That’s something we’ll keep working on and hopefully by the time the playoffs roll around, we should be ready for it.”

Mill Valley visits the Free State campus for a 6:30 p.m. game Monday.