photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State junior midfielder Miguel Alarcon receives a pass in a 5-0 regional semifinal win over Liberal on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Lawrence.

A little over a month ago, Free State fell 4-1 to Olathe East on the road, dropping the Firebirds’ record to 4-4.

The Firebirds had to figure some things out. They weren’t finishing at the net, and they had allowed 12 goals in a four-game stretch. Then came a rainy slog of a match against Olathe West that ended in a 2-2 tie. It wasn’t the win that the team hoped for, but the Firebirds showed themselves how they can win, and a lot of it had to do with having fun playing soccer together.

“We knew this was our senior year, so why not have fun and play freely?” senior Suret Qutlan said. “Don’t be scared of mistakes and have trust in your teammates.”

Free State finished the regular season 11-4-1 to claim the No. 4 seed in the 6A West, and on Tuesday, the Firebirds beat No. 13 Liberal 5-0 to advance to the regional championship match on Thursday.

Free State’s key to success over the last few weeks has been to put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses. The Firebirds have been putting as many shots on goal as they can. That’s worked to the tune of 26 goals in the team’s eight-game win streak, which is over three goals per game.

That offensive pressure made things easier for the Free State defense, who didn’t have to face an attacking Liberal offense too often. But when the Firebirds did, the defense put the pressure on to immediately snuff out any scoring chance.

That cohesive play style is what Free State coach Tyson Heck believes best describes this team. The Firebirds have figured out how to play together at a high level at multiple places on the field.

“We don’t really have a standout player, we have a standout team,” Heck said. “When they play good together, the games show it: it’s tough to beat them.”

It took a few minutes for the Free State offense to warm up and get going, but once it did, Heck described the offense as “magic.”

Senior Kaiden Helm got the first goal of the night, when he corralled a pass against his chest a few yards away from the net and put the ball in the net midway through the first half.

Almost 20 minutes later, Qutlan had the ball in the corner of the field deep in Liberal territory and passed it to the front of the net, where junior Carter Dinges got a foot on it to put it away for a goal. Less than a minute after that score, junior Lenny Marotz got a penalty kick opportunity that he drove to the top right corner for a third first-half goal.

“Our work rate throughout the ball, our high press, our creativity and moving around the field made it easy for us,” Qutlan said. “(Scoring five goals) is the best feeling, because you know the team is cooking. You can relax and have trust in everyone.”

Free State picked right back up at the start of the second half when senior Ryan Mastrosimone scored on a rebound after several Firebirds had shots on goal that didn’t get in.

Senior Fletcher Linhos scored the final goal of the night on a free kick with under four minutes left. Senior Ryder Konek-Ermey had the easiest assist of his career, lightly passing the ball a few feet to Linhos on the free kick.

“The game plan was to attack the game like any other game and trust your teammates,” Heck said. “Outside of that, we’d see where it goes and make changes on the fly, but we really didn’t need to.”

Free State will host No. 5 Topeka on Thursday at 6 p.m. Heck said it was a huge advantage to be at home Tuesday night, noting that a long drive back to Lawrence from Western Kansas is hard, especially after a loss. To not to have to worry about that makes a huge difference, and Heck hopes to see the stands even more full and raucous on Thursday for the regional championship.

“We’re coming for state,” senior Hady El-Araby said. “We had a slow start to the season, but we’ve picked it back up.”

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State senior defenseman Fletcher Linhos dribbles the ball in a 5-0 regional semifinal win over Liberal on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Lawrence.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State junior midfielder Miguel Alarcon receives a pass in a 5-0 regional semifinal win over Liberal on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Lawrence.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State senior defenseman Reed NaPier runs to possess the ball in a 5-0 regional semifinal win over Liberal on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Lawrence.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State junior defenseman Raleigh Jeter looks to pass in a 5-0 regional semifinal win over Liberal on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Lawrence.