While there have been bumps along the road for the Salisbury field hockey team this season, the Falcons certainly ended 2013 on a positive note.

In a nonconference matchup against Central Catholic, Amanda Rowlands tallied two goals and an assist in the Falcons' (4-14 overall; 2-14 in Colonial League) 3-1 win over the Vikings (0-16 overall; 0-14) on Saturday morning at Salisbury Middle School.

Already up 1-0 in the midst of second half play, Rowlands gave the Falcons a two-goal lead with 16:54 to play after ripping a shot to the goal's left side. Jess Long advanced the ball up field to find Rowlands in Viking territory. It was her sixth goal of the season, and perhaps one of her most memorable during her career.

"It feels good because we all worked together, [and] they got the ball up," Rowlands said. "We really deserved it."

Rowlands also scored in the first half, but her second goal proved to be even more crucial than her first. The Vikings pulled to within a goal a little more than six minutes later, but were never able to tie it up in the remaining 10:44.

Olivia Werkheiser essentially put the game out of reach with a Falcon goal with just 3:07 to play on an assist from Rowlands.

Falcon goalie Taylor Buda had a solid outing against the Vikings, and recorded eight saves in the win.

While the team wasn't able to accomplish its preseason goal of a .500 record, head coach Liz Jordon has seen many of positives from the team in her first season as head coach.

"What I noticed was, even when we were down by a lot of goals, I'm going to say 98 perfect of the time these girls didn't stop playing," Jordon said. "And that's a difficult thing to do. That tells me I've got girls with strong minds."

"We all had the same goal - a .500 goal," Rowlands said. "We didn't get there, but we definitely worked hard. I'm proud of all of them because we definitely played our hearts out."

The high school season is now in the books, but the Falcons are looking to get involved in the sport during the upcoming months. To take that next step in the Colonial League, Jordon believes it's essential for the Falcons to sharpen their skills year-round.

"We need to bring our skills up to remain competitive in this league for us to get even closer to competition," Jordon said. "That's definitely a coaching responsibility. What I recognize is that it has to happen throughout the year.

"There are girls that are interested in doing winter league, spring league and stuff over the summer. That's great and we'll carry that forward."