photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State freshman Lauren Woods dribbles the ball in a 1-0 win over Topeka-Hayden on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Free State.

Free State’s girls soccer team won 1-0 at home against Topeka-Hayden at Free State High School on Tuesday, improving its season record to 2-1.

“We came out strong and moved the ball well,” coach Joe Waldron said. “A 1-0 win over a good Hayden team is good. A shutout is good, too.”

The Firebirds took the lead early in the game and played well defensively to hold the win. Junior midfielder Wittney Bogart scored the opening goal. Waldron was particularly pleased with how she played and was happy with the middle of the field from defense to offense.

Although the Firebirds scored early, the team couldn’t finish with another goal. Waldron said the offense is still a little disjointed and learning together, but the future for the team’s offense is bright with the amount of talent the team has. The team is in the right spots — it’s just a matter of putting the moving parts together to be more successful.

“We need to work on some of our possessions going forward. We’re trying a lot of quick-strike stuff, and that’s kind of easy to defend,” Waldron said. “We have players that like to attack. That’s a different thing for us — we haven’t had that in the past.”

A shutout win is always good for a team, but this one was particularly nice after the last game when the Firebirds started with a 2-0 lead before allowing Shawnee Heights to come back and tie the game at 2-2.

“The ball-winning ability of our back three triangle with Riley (Prier), Cara (Jeffries), and Amelia (Lang)… all three of them are good ball winners, they’re good in the air, they’re strong physically, they run well,” Waldron said. “Tactically, we’re getting better playing as a group. I thought Riley’s defensive presence in the middle of the field was terrific.”

Prier plays with an attacking mindset and can deter an opposing offense from making plays in her area. The defense around her can fill the gaps around her, which creates the strong defense the Firebirds have shown so far in the season.

Waldron said the team has many good parts that haven’t fully come together yet. This is somewhat expected, as the team is only three games in, but it has been an issue that the Firebirds will work to remedy in the coming games. Still, the Firebirds are seeing progress, even compared to where the team was last year.

“We’re still trying to get all the parts on the same page at the same time,” Waldron said. “We’re three games into the season, and I don’t know who is. The good news is we’ve won our first two home games, which is outstanding. We’re on pace to have more wins than last year… things are looking promising. It’s the start of a good season.”

Free State will not play until next Tuesday when it plays Shawnee Mission North on the road at 7 p.m.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State sophomore Siena Schamberger takes the ball upfield in a 1-0 win over Topeka-Hayden at Free State High School on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.