photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Lawrence junior Riley Stewart jumps over a Free State defender during the City Showdown on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, at Free State High School.

High school boys soccer in Lawrence belongs to the Lions.

Lawrence High got a goal in each half and its defense stood tall in the final 20 minutes to lift the Lions to a 2-1 victory over arch-rival Free State in the City Showdown Thursday night in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Free State High. It marks the first win for any of the current Lawrence (6-0, 3-0 Sunflower League) players over Free State (3-2-1, 2-1-1).

“This feels pretty unreal right now, to be honest,” said Lawrence senior goalie Murphy Nowak, who made eight saves for the Lions in the Sunflower League win. “In my sophomore season, they scored a goal in double overtime that just went off my hands

and in. To get a win back, especially in my senior year, means a lot. It’s amazing.”

Lawrence head coach Joe Comparato said finally knocking off Free State after losing some close matches in their recent meetings makes the league win just a little bit sweeter.

“There’s two pieces to this,” said Comparato, whose team is now 3-0 in one-goal matches this season. “This game always causes a lot of distractions for our guys, so I’m glad we got it out of the way early in the league schedule. But this means so much to these players. We’ve been so close these past couple of years and to get this done means a lot.”

Lawrence got on the board first inside the opening 10 minutes of Thursday’s match. Patrick Sandefur won a loose ball just outside Free State’s penalty area and sent a shot into the lower left corner of the net to give the Lions a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.

Free State didn’t panic and applied pressure to Lawrence’s goal for most of the first half, but the Firebirds were unable to find the back of the net. It was a common theme for Free State for the entire match, as the Firebirds had two shots hit the post and several volleys go just over the top of the net.

“Final-third finishing is what got us tonight,” Free State head coach Tyson Heck said. “We didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we had, and Lawrence capitalized on the opportunities that we gave them. This one is going to be tough to swallow. It’s just tough.”

Free State tied the match at 1 early in the second half when Suret Qutlan was fouled in the penalty area, giving the Firebirds a penalty kick. Eli Stone stepped up and converted the penalty kick, making it 1-1 in the 50th minute.

However, about 12 minutes later, the Lions struck again. Lawrence earned a corner kick that Free State failed to clear. Oscar Paden sent a cross into the penalty area that found the feet of Sandefur, who buried his shot to give the Lions a 2-1 lead.

Free State didn’t go quietly, though. The Firebirds sent a direct kick off the post in the 67th minute and forced Nowak to make three saves in the final six minutes to keep Lawrence in front and preserve the win.

“We trust each other a lot,” Nowak said. “We’ve had a lot of young guys step up for us this year and our guys up front have really been scoring goals and doing their job. We always see every game as winnable, even if we go down a goal. This team has so much fight and grit in it.”

Both teams are back in league action on Tuesday in a pair of league matches. Lawrence goes to Gardner Edgerton, while Free State is at Mill Valley, with both matches scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.

“I’m glad that we won this match on a Thursday night, because it will let the guys have the weekend to enjoy it,” Comparato said. “But I told them that come Monday, they’d better come to practice ready to get prepared (for Gardner Edgerton) because it doesn’t get any easier just because we won tonight.”