If people weren't familiar with Salisbury freshman Ethan Heydt heading into last week's District 11 Class AA boys soccer quarterfinals against Blue Mountain, they sure know who he is now.

Heydt tallied three goals for the No. 4 seeded Falcons during their 5-0 victory over the No. 5 seeded Eagles of the Schuylkill League last Thursday evening at Salisbury High School.

"He is a high-caliber player," head coach Mark Allinson said. "Sure he's young. He's going to get his bumps and bruises. Typically within our program, we start them on the outside when they're young, and gradually move them in as they mature."

"I hoped to have a good game," Heydt said. "I was trying to take a lot of shots and stuff like that. We really needed to step up tonight, and I think we did."

Near the end of the season, Allinson moved Heydt to center midfielder. He has been thriving in his new role.

"We sort of saw within the past couple of games that he's just a pure center midfielder," Allinson said. "He's just a pure playmaker. We swapped him and his brother [Ben Heydt], and it's paid some dividends for us."

Already up 3-0 as the second half got underway, Heydt wasted little time at putting away the possibility of an Eagle comeback.

Following a shot by Ben Heydt, Ethan Heydt cleaned up a loose ball in front of the Eagles' goal that put the Falcons ahead 4-0 with 28:19 to play. Nearly 15 minutes later, Sebastian Valderrama assisted on Heydt's final goal that made it 5-0 with 13:06 remaining. That goal was Heydt's ninth of the season.

"I've been playing with the guys for awhile, and they've really brought me in," Ethan Heydt said. "It's been pretty fun."

Ethan Heydt admits that playing with his brother has certainly helped him throughout the season.

"I have a lot more confidence out there playing with him," Heydt said. "We have good teamwork together. It definitely helps a lot."

Ethan Heydt tallied his first score against Blue Mountain on a penalty kick early in the first half that put the Falcons ahead 1-0, a lead that would never be threatened.

Austin Uhl and Ben Heydt then each scored a goal in the span of 4:54 in the first half to make it 3-0 at the break.

The team's depth was on full display against the Eagles. While neither of the team's top two goal scorers (Connor Wagner and Danny Walters) had a point in the win, the two had just as big of an impact in the team's scoring and ball possession.

"Our two guys up top didn't score, but they cleared out a lot of people, allowing Ethan to get in there," Allinson said. "Ethan is a smart enough player to know where he needs to be."

The Falcon offense dominated in time of possession and shots on goal, 15-2, while the defense remained solid and kept the Eagles from generating any type of momentum. Falcon goalie Shaun Holben recorded two saves in the win.

"I'm thinking that they're rising to the challenge that a district playoff team needs to rise to," Allinson said. "It's a tough road. Everybody wants to win, so everybody is hopefully playing their best. We need to be on our top-notch game. I think we were today."

The win over the Eagles sent the Falcons onto a semifinal match up against No. 1 seed Northwestern on Tuesday evening at Northern Lehigh. (That game was played after Press deadline.)

The Tigers, which advanced with a 2-1 win over No. 8 seed Notre Dame-Green Pond in the quarterfinals, won the Colonial League championship and finished with an 11-1-1 conference record. The Tigers won their only regular season meeting with Salisbury, 2-1, on September 19.