Will Laufer (18) turns for the ball as Free State played Olathe East at CBAC in 2014 Kansas regional soccer.

Since middle school, Free State High senior Will Laufer had a goal of playing soccer in college.

He made his dream a reality when he made an oral commitment to play soccer at the University of Central Arkansas on Thursday.

“I’m very excited,” Laufer said. “They were happy to have me because I can get a lot of academic money there. I’m happy to go there because it’s a young program that will get better every year.”

Last season, Laufer ranked second on the Firebirds with nine goals and was a second-team All-Sunflower League selection.

The crafty midfielder started attracting attention from Central Arkansas when he played with his club team, Sporting Blue Valley, in a tournament in Orlando, Florida. Central Arkansas coaches also saw him play in a tournament in Dallas.

Laufer visited Central Arkansas’ campus in Conway a few months ago and liked what he saw. He chose the Bears over Drake and Western Illinois.

“The campus is small,” said Laufer, who plans to major in exercise science. “It’s the right size of school. I wanted 8-12,000 kids. The coaches … I love all three of them. The field, the location, they have my major, pretty much no negatives for me.”

With his college recruitment out of the way, Laufer is focused on helping the Firebirds improve on their 9-8-1 record from last year.

“I wasn’t feeling the pressure that much yet because it’s so early,” Laufer said. “But I talked with (Free State coach Kelly) Barah and stuff, and getting it out of the way early, we thought was the best decision so we went ahead and did it.”

Laufer credited Barah with his “training sessions outside of practice” to help prepare him for his school and club soccer seasons.

Now he just wants to show what he can do in his final season with the Firebirds.

“I’m ready to go,” Laufer said. “I wish we started games tomorrow.”