photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State junior Eli Stone dribbles the ball toward the net in a 2-0 loss to Mill Valley at home on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.

A 15-minute delay due to weather may not have impacted the Free State boys soccer team’s play on Tuesday, but it certainly didn’t help as the team fell out of rhythm early in a 2-0 loss against Mill Valley on Tuesday.

Free State coach Joe Waldron classified it as a slow start for the team, but the issues came after the Firebirds had a couple of scoring chances in the opening minutes that they failed to convert on. After that, the team’s energy and pacing slowed.

“We let that moment slip by,” Waldron said. “Those are game changers. The other team got a couple of chances and they scored.”

The Firebirds didn’t have many scoring opportunities in the first half. The offense had moments of sustained push toward the Jaguars’ goal, but the team couldn’t generate many shots when they did push. There were some close calls, such as around 10 minutes into the match when a penalty kick by the Firebirds hit the top crossbar and bounced outward rather than in. Another close call later in the half was just in reach for Mill Valley goalie Alex Grace. Other than that, it was a dank first half.

The Jaguars found a little more offensive success. Joel Hayes scored the first goal with less than six minutes left in the first half. On the goal, Hayes dribbled the ball through and around multiple Firebird defenders.

The message at halftime was clear: This wasn’t good enough. The Firebirds, fresh off a win over Lawrence High School, saw the value in a fast start. The team’s inability to tie the game led to Mill Valley being able to control the game.

Free State’s offense came to life in the 10th minute of the second half. A few missed passes kept the team from tying the game there, but the energy the team had lacked in the first half was finally present, and the difference came entirely from the team itself.

“We didn’t make any personnel changes, we didn’t make any lineup changes,” Waldron said. “We basically just talked about what we want to do as a team. We got away from it (in the first half), but these are young players — they do that.”

Around the halfway point in the second half, the Jaguars scored their second goal, this one coming in from Brady Robins on a rebound. The Jaguars did well throughout the game of getting the ball to their teammates. Waldron said his team had too many instances of the ball going out-of-bounds or to an opponent in similar situations. It made a comeback even more difficult when the team’s touch wasn’t up to its usual capabilities.

The second half was better played in general. But the team couldn’t overcome the slow start nor the second-half goal that put the Firebirds in a difficult hole.

The resulting loss dropped the Firebirds to 4-2 on the season with a home match against Shawnee Mission West coming on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Vikings will provide a tough challenge for the Firebirds, and it’ll be a game that the home team needs to start fast in.

“We need more controlled attack, we need better possession going forward,” Waldron said. “We need to move the ball around and expose some weaknesses and attack those weaknesses.”

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State senior James Spear passes to a midfielder in Tuesday night’s 2-0 loss to Mill Valley at home.