Free State senior Ernesto Hodison (14) walks off the field as Wichita North players celebrate following their regional championship soccer match Thursday evening at FSHS. The Firebirds fell to the Redskins, 3-2, and ended their season with an 11-6-1 record.

Free State High’s boys soccer team started flat against Wichita North in the regional championship on Thursday. Once the Firebirds fell behind, it was just too difficult to catch up.

The Firebirds suffered a season-ending 3-2 loss at FSHS. Some Free State players dropped to the field after the final whistle, knowing how close they were to keeping their season alive, while Wichita North players celebrated on the opposite side of the field.

Free State finished with an 11-6-1 record, the most wins in a season since 2009.

“They were just really fast, and they were just really fired up,” FSHS senior midfielder Ernesto Hodison said. “We got a little intimidated, especially at the beginning. Whenever you’re scored on, that kind of degrades your morale.”

The Firebirds trailed, 2-0, before freshman Rowan Laufer was tripped in the 18-yard box, drawing a penalty kick with 15 minutes remaining. Sophomore Charlie Newsome took the kick and drilled it past the keeper to the right, giving his teammates confidence they could tie the score.

But Wichita North (12-6) answered when senior midfielder Sami Sabrah scored a goal, dribbling past defenders into the box, for a 3-1 lead with just eight minutes remaining.

Wichita North didn’t do anything on offense that Free State’s back line — Laufer, Newsome, Jordan Patrick and Francisco Flores — hasn’t seen from other teams this season. North just had athletes who were difficult to slow down in one-on-one situations and had plenty of speed.

“We’ve seen that kind of speed, and we have fast players,” FSHS coach Kelly Barah said. “When you give up some goals and you’re chasing the game, and you change your tactics a lot, then that speed really comes in to kill you even more.”

Laufer, who moved to forward in the second half to create offense, scored Free State’s final goal with 15 seconds left.

The Firebirds were playing without senior midfielder Will Laufer, their leading scorer, after he broke his jaw at the end of the regular season. They were also without senior forward Eduardo Carballido Flores, who sat out the final two games of the season.

Barah said watching Laufer on the sidelines was “one of the toughest things” he ever has had to do as a coach, especially seeing all of the work Laufer did during the offseason.

In the first half, the Firebirds struggled to create many offensive opportunities for forwards Branden Patterson, Israel Lumpkins, Alejandro Carballido Flores, Heitor Nazareth, Cooper Moreano and Nicholas Howard.

Meanwhile, Wichita North was relentless on offense with its speed and athleticism.

In the 33rd minute, Wichita North junior Jose Juarez sent a strong shot at Free State goalkeeper Jonathan Lesslie, who knocked the ball down, but Sabrah was in the right spot to score on the rebound.

Seven minutes into the second half, Sabrah sent a picture-perfect cross into the box to junior forward Cesar Verdin, who knocked in a header for a 2-0 lead.

“It was a lot more mentally hard than it was physically because we knew it all came down to this, and it just seemed like everything was against us,” Newsome said. “We definitely fought back and had some unluckiness happen to us.”

The Firebirds were disappointed with the way their season ended but were proud of what they accomplished.

“It kind of hit me hard realizing this is the last game,” FSHS senior Lumpkins said. “It was fantastic to play with all my teammates. I just wish we could play more games.”