TOPEKA–The Free State girls soccer team knew it was facing its toughest challenge of the season on Thursday against Washburn Rural.

And after Free State allowed a quick strike from Washburn Rural senior forward Britt Woolington within the first minute of action, it was never able to recover.

Once the Lady Blues opened with possession of the ball and pushed it into the Firebirds’ zone, Woolington buried the match-opening goal into the right side of Free State’s net.

“Giving up that really quick goal put us on our heels,” said Free State coach Kelly Barah. “All year, we’ve not given up an early goal. I think trying to figure out how to react to that was a game-changer for us on the field because it really put us on our heels.”

Woolington ultimately spearheaded a lethal offensive attack for No. 1-seeded Washburn Rural, which resulted in a 4-0 loss for No. 8 Free State in its regional championship game at McElroy Field. Megan Lucas and Alex Entz also added goals for the Lady Blues.

Free State (8-9-1) found itself in an early deficit after Woolington scored two goals in the first half for Washburn Rural. The Lady Blues also outshot the Firebirds, 6-0, in the first half.

Offensively, Free State didn’t find much success. The Firebirds failed to record a shot on goal and were outshot, 10-0, for the game.

Barah said he thought the absence of senior midfielder Emma Yackley from the lineup played a factor in his team’s offensive performance. Yackley has been a catalyst in Free State’s offense this season.

“When you lose Emma out of the lineup, it changes a number of things offensively,” Barah said. “We could not get the ball up top long enough to do some things that we traditionally do. It was a little bit of a harder night offensively for us.”

Free State junior goalkeeper Kaelyn Weiss credited Washburn Rural’s experience for why they were able to limit the Firebirds.

“They’re aggressive, they’re very aggressive,” Weiss said. “I know that a lot of them play club together as well, so they do have that connection. They’re a good team. Our team worked our butts off, and so did they, but there’s just some things that they were stronger in. But no matter what, our team still worked hard.”

When Barah met with his players for the final time this season after the match, he didn’t necessarily give a season-ending message.

“It was more of a thank you (message), because they brought the love of the game back to not just the program, but to the entire coaching staff,” Barah said. “The practices every single day were absolutely fun. And that’s why you can hear some of the tears and everything, because it’s a team that’s going to miss each other quite a bit.”

Weiss said her favorite thing to do while inside the net this season was routinely greet her teammates on the field in the same way.

“We’d do knucks before every half, before every game,” Weiss said with a wide smile. “All we brought was all we had in us. We worked our butts off every practice, every game. There wasn’t an off day. I’m going to miss that determination from this whole team and the seniors that are leaving us now.”

Weiss said Yackley and junior Brittany Hoffman were named the senior captains for next season, and she thinks they will build onto what the senior group brought to the team this season.

“They’re fantastic players, great teammates, and they’re going to be great captains,” Weiss said.

Hoffman entered Thursday’s game against Washburn Rural as Free State’s hottest offensive player, scoring three goals in her previous two games.

Weiss said Hoffman has changed the outlook of the Firebirds’ offense since she was recently moved from defender to the forward position.

“I’ve seen her kick butt,” Weiss said. “And dominate. And just, she doesn’t stop. She has a mindset and she just keeps going with it, and that’s fantastic and it brings us up as well. I can’t wait for her to bring that as a captain next year, too. And hopefully keep that going with the freshmen and say ‘Guys, this is what we do on the team.'”

As Free State begins its transition into next season, Weiss, who began attending Free State her sophomore year, said she will always remember this year’s team and its senior group that made her own transition so smooth.

“They just took me in, and even outside of soccer, we were always together,” Weiss said. “We’re definitely like sisters. We argue like them, but the love never goes away, no matter what. We’re always there for each other, no matter what. It’s fantastic.”