Free State senior Eduardo Carballido Flores (7) and Shawnee Mission South’s Jackson Ozburn try to win the ball in the air during the Firebirds’ 3-1 win Tuesday at FSHS.

Before the season started, Free State High boys soccer players set a goal of winning 10 games this year. They’re going to need to set a new goal for the postseason.

For the first time since 2009, the Firebirds reached a double-digit win total, cruising to a 3-1 victory over Shawnee Mission South on Tuesday at FSHS on Senior Night.

The Firebirds trailed, 1-0, in the 25th minute after SM South junior Cameron Maxey pushed a pass into the 18-yard box and a Free State defender knocked it into the net for an own goal.

But that’s all it took to fire up the Firebirds (10-5-1), who scored three goals over the next 14 minutes before halftime in their regular-season finale.

“I think our offense has really come a long way since our first day of practice,” senior defender Jordan Patrick said. “We really have a lot of potential. Going into regionals, I think we’re going to shock some people.”

Three minutes after the own goal, Free State junior Cooper Moreano scored from the top of the 18-yard box, assisted from senior Eduardo Carballido Flores. Moreano took control of the ball and fired a shot to the right side of the net.

The Firebirds are playing without their leading scorer, senior midfielder Will Laufer, who is out of the rest of the season with a broken jaw. Laufer was on the field for the opening kick-off, but after an immediate pass out of bounds, he ran to the sidelines to be subbed out for his freshman brother, Rowan, hugging his teammates and coaches on the way to the bench.

“We were playing a little bit lackadaisical and then that happened,” senior defenseman Aric Trent said of the own goal. “We just turned a switch on. We kind of talked at halftime, too, to just seal the lead and do it for the seniors.”

In the 33rd minute, Carballido Flores scored off a free kick from Patrick, sneaking a shot by the near post.

Free State junior Branden Patterson assisted on the next goal, dribbling past two defenders on the left side of the box and drawing SM South’s goalkeeper toward him. Patterson then flipped a pass for Carballido Flores, who just tapped the ball into the back of the net.

“It feels good,” said Carballido Flores, who has scored three goals during Free State’s three-game win streak. “Now we realize we can actually can wake up and make goals. The whole season we’ve been struggling a little bit with goals. But after seeing all of this, it kind of shows that we are able to do it.”

The Firebirds controlled the pace in the second half and didn’t allow many shots on goal against junior goalkeeper Jonathan Lesslie with strong defense by Rowan Laufer, Trent, Patrick, and senior Ernesto Hodison, among others.

The Firebirds honored their 10 seniors in a ceremony following their victory.

“The bigger deal for us was we really wanted that double-digit win season,” FSHS coach Kelly Barah said, “so to do it on Senior Night was kind of special.”

The Firebirds will learn of their regional schedule on Saturday.