photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

FSHS junior Eli Stone, left, and LHS junior Indigo Comfort battle for the ball in the first half of the Thursday night boys soccer City Showdown, where the Firebirds won 4-2 at LHS.

A wind came through the Lawrence High School soccer field almost immediately at the start of the Thursday night match between Lawrence and Free State high schools. Cracks of electricity danced through the clouds, while the full benches were split with the east side sporting green and the west side dressed in red, all shouting as if it were a playoff match.

The energy, from the field to the crowd to the atmosphere, created a buzz for the boys soccer City Showdown, and the game lived up to it. The Firebirds started hot, slowed down while the Lions peaked, but finished on top to take a road 4-2 win in the rivalry game.

Thursday’s game was a battle between two good teams. The Lions entered the game 5-0-1, with the only tie coming in the first match of the season against the defending champions. The Firebirds came to their rival’s stadium with a 3-1 record playing mostly road games. That’s exactly how the teams want this game to be: a challenging match between two tough squads who are competing in the Sunflower League.

“(LHS is) a very good team,” Free State coach Joe Waldron said. “They’re a disciplined team, they’re well organized in the back. They have good spacing, they move the ball well… For us to go up two goals on them was huge.”

The Firebirds did the little things well through the first half. They won the 50-50 balls, they pushed the pace and rarely allowed the Lions to take a chance at a goal, and when they did, senior goalkeeper Yusef Iskandrani made big saves. His defenders backed him up, notably senior captains Somjai Sengchan and Hudson Robinson. The little plays are what propelled the team to its early lead.

“Our back four… that’s the best teamwork I’ve played with,” Robinson said. “We’ve played with each other for a long time — we know how each other plays. It’s like art out there.”

Junior Trenton Cozadd scored the first goal of the night seven minutes and five seconds into the game when he and senior Raleigh Jeter pushed the ball beyond the Lions’ back line and Cozadd kicked the ball across the net to the bottom right corner. The Lions seemed like they found an answer when Asher Sikes marched up the side of the field and scored a goal, but it was called off because Sikes was offside.

Nine minutes later, the Firebirds found their second goal when Parker Bentley kicked the ball from just outside of the penalty area to the top right corner of the net.

The Lions had a few offensive pushes in the latter minutes of the half, but they came up empty thanks to saves from Iskandrani.

If the Lions have shown anything over the course of their first six games, it’s that they can outplay an opponent in the second half with conditioning. Four minutes into the half, Asher Sikes gave the team its first goal of the night on a penalty kick.

“Perhaps we played a little guarded, a little slower because we were tired in the second half,” Waldron said. “And with Lawrence High you better not do that.”

The Firebirds answered right back with a goal from Eli Stone, but the Lions scored their second goal of the night from senior Nate Schworm.

Free State’s team is about making plays. They’re a veteran group with 14 seniors on varsity. They have the experience together at the varsity level to finish together when they need to. Robinson said that the team trusts each other. They trust that when they get hit, they’ll bounce back and hit twice as hard. The Firebirds know they can rely on each other to get the job done. On Thursday, that’s what they did.

“Everybody has to do their part, and we believe anybody can play almost anywhere,” Sengchan said. “The subs come in and there’s no drop (in performance). Everybody is playing so well with so much fight.”

Stone answered that call with five and a half minutes remaining in the game. His second goal gave the Firebirds their two-goal lead back, which became insurmountable.

“It was super quick,” Stone said of his goals. “It came to me, I made a play, and it went in. Then I did it again. It’s all about capitalizing on those moments, and we did.”

The defense held strong with its back-line captains and goalkeeper. And when the clock reached triple zeroes, the Free State fans rushed to the field to congratulate their team on getting the road win.

“We have the best home fans in the state,” Stone said. “That’s what makes Free State special. We get a home advantage.”

Both teams have resilient groups that are well prepared to make a run in the postseason. Despite the general competitiveness of the Sunflower League, both teams believe that they can be at the top of the league at the end of the season.

“Games like this, we are prepared to deal with,” Waldron said. “These games push you to the limit, and I think both teams were pushed to the limit tonight.”

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

LHS junior Indigo Comfort and senior Nate Schworm fight off the Firebirds midfielders for possession of the ball in Thursday’s boys soccer City Showdown in which Free State High School won 4-2 at LHS.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

LHS senior Kaden Valbuena, right, and FSHS junior Caleb Huggins race toward the ball in Thursday’s boys soccer City Showdown at LHS. The Firebirds won 4-2.