Six Firebirds scored in the Free State High girls soccer team’s 7-0 victory over Leavenworth on Tuesday at FSHS.

The Firebirds kept Leavenworth goalkeeper Rebecca Reilly and the Pioneer defenders on their heels as they kept the ball on the offensive end for the majority of the contest.

“I felt like we played well, like we possessed well,” midfielder Jenna Giele said. “Sometimes if you play a team that is below your level, you kind of play down to their level, but we kept our level, so that was cool.”

Free State took the lead less than three minutes in. The early pressure by the Firebirds resulted in a handball in the box by Leavenworth, and Maddie Dieker capitalized by converting the penalty kick.

FSHS struck again seven minutes later when Jessica Ferguson scored the first of her two goals to push the Firebirds’ lead to 2-0.

“Getting a couple in toward the beginning helped kind of calm us down and say, ‘OK, let’s just play our game. Let’s just do what we know how to do,'” defender Hanna Heline said.

The aggressiveness from Heline and the other Firebird defenders shut down the few opportunities Leavenworth had to make it an easy night for FSHS goalkeeper Annie Hierl. The defense led quickly to offense for the Firebirds’ final two goals of the half, with Maren Kahler scoring on a break-away and Anna Craig finding the back of the net on a tap-in.

“We really started seeing different angles and different things,” Heline said. “We were just kind of playing around with it toward the end, so that was fun. We got to test some stuff out, so when we get to tougher games, we have that.”

FSHS picked up right where it left off after the halftime break, scoring its final three goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Lexi Brady broke through the Leavenworth defense and scored on an assist from Kahler to spark the Firebirds’ second-half offense. That spark quickly turned into a fire as Ferguson scored for the second time less than 90 seconds later, and Allix Ice put the nail in the coffin with 25:57 to play to wrap up the offensive outburst.

FSHS (9-6) will conclude its regular season at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against Topeka Hayden, a match which will also serve as Senior Night for 15 Firebirds.

“It’s going to be really emotional, but we’re playing (Topeka) Hayden, so it’s going to be kind of hard,” Giele said. “Hopefully we can get past that and bring home a win. It will be really crazy and long.”