photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State senior midfielder Caleb Huggins runs toward the ball in a 2-1 win over Shawnee Mission Northwest on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, at Free State High School in Lawrence.

After Free State boys soccer’s 5-0 loss to Olathe West on Oct. 7, senior midfielder Eli Stone put out the goal for the Firebirds to run the table for their final five games.

With a 4-6-1 record at the time, Stone and the Firebirds needed some juice and energy before entering the playoffs. Now, following a 2-1 win over Shawnee Mission Northwest on Tuesday, the Firebirds are back at .500 and looking to make an exclamation point for their final three games.

“We all feel great,” senior midfielder Caleb Huggins said. “We won last week, we won this one. It’s a great booster of morale, and I think the energy is high now. Everyone played with heart, and it showed.”

The Tuesday game also served as senior night for the Firebirds, bringing a level of energy and determination to the game. As Stone said, “You never lose on a senior night.”

The Firebirds hosted a Cougars team that had back-to-back overtime losses with a 3-8-1 record. Stone said the Firebirds brought up the energy to prepare for a desperate team needing a win. That energy helped the Firebirds possess the ball, control the game and come out with a win.

“We’ve been focusing a lot on our middle third of the field and our ball possession there, and they’ve been putting it together,” Free State coach Tyson Heck said. “It was effort all the way from the beginning to the end.”

Free State went on the attack early and often. Stone scored the first goal of the night 16 minutes into the match on a strong shot from outside of the penalty area that went over 20 yards from to the front left of the goal, just outside of the outstretched hands of Shawnee Mission Northwest’s goalkeeper.

The score stayed 1-0 for a long time. Over 60 minutes of clock went by without a goal by either team, but the Firebirds continued to push the pace on offense. The Firebirds moved the ball well, took shots in the final third and even had some close calls on set pieces, although none went through.

“We put a lot of time in shots, and we’ve put a lot of time into that transition from offense to defense,” Heck said. “A lot of teams come into that second half and put pressure on us, and we get flustered. We’ve been trying to switch that up and apply that same kind of pressure and assertiveness, and they’ve done a really good job.”

Heck credits the team’s reserves for the energy the Firebirds brought to the pitch. The Firebirds have a talented and veteran starting 11, and when reserve players come in, they bring an energy that helps keep the Firebirds playing with intensity.

“They play hard, and they fit right into that mold instantly,” Heck said. “We tend to relax mentally, so we’ve been working on that a lot.”

Free State scored an insurance goal with 36 seconds left on the clock. Junior forward Suret Qutlan had pushed the ball upfield along the right sideline several times over the final minutes, and in the final minute, he scored on a shot that hit the goalkeeper’s legs and bounced over and into the goal.

Shawnee Mission Northwest avoided the shutout, however, with a late goal with four seconds on the clock. The Cougars quickly wound through the Firebirds defense to get the shot off. Stone said that the team cannot drop focus late in a game like that again, no matter the score or time.

The win moved Free State to 6-6-1 on the season. With only three games left in the regular season, Heck said he wants to see his team put an exclamation point on it and finish strong.

“Ultimately, we want to see what we’ve been looking for all year — it needs to catch fire at this point,” Heck said. “We need to be going 100% all the time as soon as we hit the field until we walk off.”

As the playoffs loom closer and closer, the Firebirds are balancing postseason motivation while focusing game-by-game. The team understands that the best thing to do for the playoffs it to keep winning late.

“Nothing matters more than the next game,” Stone said. “Going into each game and focusing on what’s at hand is what is important.”

Free State will hit the road to take on St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday at 7 p.m.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State senior Trenton Cozadd catches up to the ball in a 2-1 win over Shawnee Mission Northwest on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, at Free State High School in Lawrence.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State senior forward Trenton Cozadd pushes up to defend in a 2-1 win over Shawnee Mission Northwest on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, at Free State High School in Lawrence.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State senior midfielder Neel Sabarwal runs through the midfield in a 2-1 win over Shawnee Mission Northwest on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, at Free State High School in Lawrence.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State senior midfielder Eli Stone take possession of the ball in a 2-1 win over Shawnee Mission Northwest on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, at Free State High School in Lawrence.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State senior Neel Sabarwal passes to a forward in a 2-1 win over Shawnee Mission Northwest on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, at Free State High School in Lawrence.