Free State's Molly Bryant chases Olathe East's Natalie Wolfe up the sideline late in the first half as a storm rolls in on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at Free State High School.

The size and athleticism of Olathe East’s front line were too much for Free State High’s girls soccer team to handle Tuesday, as the Firebirds fell to the Hawks, 6-0, in their final regular-season home game.

OE senior Natalie Wolfe led the charge for the Hawks, netting a hat trick with goals in the 10th, 54th and 68th minutes.

“It’s hard, but we just have to keep fighting and keep pushing,” FSHS senior Hannah Reussner said. “(Wolfe) is amazing. She is a really good player, but we also have some really good players, too.”

The Hawks found the back of the net again with the less than a minute left before halftime when Jill Nicholson converted on a rebound off the post.

Just seconds after Nicholson’s goal, play was delayed 30 minutes due to lightning in the area with 42 seconds remaining in the half.

While FSHS coach Kelly Barah was quick to admit that weather played a factor for both teams with heavy rain falling for much of the game, he said the Hawks’ crisp passing on the slick turf gave them the advantage.

“Both teams had to really tighten up their touches, and I think that’s where the difference came in the game,” Barah said.

FSHS (5-7) was not able to generate much offense in the second half, and the Hawks and the rain did not let up to make things more difficult for the Firebirds to come back.

After Emily Blais pushed OE’s lead to 3-0 in the 50th, Wolfe drilled in a penalty kick four minutes later, just after the second band of heavy rain began. Although the result was not what Reussner was hoping for, she enjoyed competing in the soggy conditions.

“It’s sad, but I just love playing in the rain. I love playing with these girls,” Reussner said. “The fans are awesome, and it’s really cool that they supported us even though we had kind of bad conditions.”

Wolfe and Manuela Gonzalez added the fifth and sixth goals for OE, but despite the 6-0 outcome, freshman Kate Odgers said Firebirds fought hard against a quality team.

“I think we played a little better than what the score said,” Odgers said.

While Free State had its Senior Night April 23 against Lawrence High, Barah had planned to recognize the soon-to-be graduates before the game Tuesday as well, had it not started early because of the weather.

“What we have tried to do is doing a better job of recognizing them (seniors) every single day, and not so much just one,” Barah said. “Our team has tried to make an emphasis of, ‘We’re not going to make our regular-season finale be the last game for the seniors,’ so we try to get a home game for the playoffs here to make it their true last game on our field.”

FSHS will play the first of three road games to end the regular season at 7 p.m. Thursday against Olathe South.