photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State senior Hady El-Araby dribbles the ball during the boys soccer City Showdown on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Lawrence.

The Free State boys soccer team has developed a winning formula over the last week, and the ingredients are simple: run hard.

The Firebirds hit a lull in the middle of the season — the goals weren’t coming. Finishing goals has been an issue for the Firebirds, and it led to a 1-3 stretch in which the Firebirds scored four goals, three of which came in the one win.

But the Firebirds have had a different approach to scoring goals over the last two weeks, focusing on quantity over quality. Not every shot has to be the perfect one, but the Firebirds need to keep pressure on defenses by putting more shots on goal.

“We reiterate that over and over and over,” Free State coach Tyson Heck said. “It doesn’t have to look pretty — it has to go in.”

To do that, the Firebirds are emphasizing pushing the pace on offense. With more speed and effort, the Firebirds can put together more offense. Heck said it’s about how many passes the team makes and how fast the pass is or how fast the run is. When the team plays with that tempo, the results have been obvious.

“The offense has been a struggle, that’s kind of been our thing,” Heck said. “At this point in time, we need to put as many on frame as we can and battle to finish stuff. We have the depth to push for that tempo. When we get excited and we get all over the field, people start doing really cool things.”

Things began to turn around for Free State in a rainy 2-2 tie against Olathe West. It wasn’t a win, but the Firebirds saw a difference in how their offense looked. Then, Free State went 3-0 over the last week.

In Saturday’s City Showdown game, the Firebirds played the first half without the tempo they needed to win. They came out of halftime with more tempo and scored the game-winning goal. It wasn’t some highlight-reel goal, but it came with persistence and being in the right place at the right time. Senior Fletcher Linhos made the play that was in front of him, and that’s all the team needed.

“We’re all starting to click,” Linhos said. “Everything we’ve worked for and tried to get going at the beginning of the season is finally starting to work, and it’s showing.”

The intensity with which the team plays isn’t just for offense. The Firebirds want to put more pressure on opposing offenses, making it harder to get shots on goal. Linhos said those kinds of plays are what give the team momentum and lead to these crucial wins.

The Firebirds have found themselves in a good spot at a good time in the season. With a 7-4-1 record with four games left, Free State has only one remaining opponent with more than five wins. The Firebirds are looking to keep this momentum going forward.

“We have a lot of momentum with three wins this week,” Linhos said. “Honestly, we can and we’re trying to win out from there. (We can) get a home playoff game and just go from there.”