When one talks about the soccer programs at Salisbury High School, Mark Allinson's name is one that comes to mind often.

In this his 20th season as head coach of the Salisbury boys' soccer team, Allinson has had a tremendous amount of success on the field. He was also head coach of the girls' team for 18 years until both teams started playing in the fall season.

During his tenure at the helm, Allinson and the Falcons have been synonymous with trips into postseason play. They've been regular qualifiers in the district tournament, with two district titles in the 2010-11 and 2003-04 seasons. Both victories earned them a spot in the state tournament.

While the Falcons came up a goal short in this season's district championship, the runner-up Falcons were awarded a spot in the PIAA Class AA boys soccer tournament.

"I think our boys have worked, up to this point, extremely hard to get to see some of these teams outside of our district," Allinson said. "I think they're going to see that there is some extremely high quality soccer that is being played. We're hoping that our boys will be ready for it, and also show the other teams that we too play a pretty good style of soccer as well."

The Falcons have missed district play just three times in Allinson's 20 seasons. The last season the Falcons failed to qualify for districts was 2000.

"I think any time you get through the district playoffs, and get into a final in districts, that's one of the goals you shoot for all season long," Allinson said. "Even though you lose in the district final, it's nice that you're able to go on."

Despite losing much of the team's scoring threats from last year, that didn't stop the Falcons from having their longest district run since the 2010-11 season, their last district title. In that championship game, Austin Uhl, now a senior, scored the game-winning penalty kick in a 2-1 victory over Southern Lehigh.

Compared to their 2003-04 title in which they expected to have success in the area, the Falcons may have had a tough time believing this year's team could get this far.

"In 2003, it was like we almost expected to get there," Allinson said. "We had Jason Yeisley, and he certainly is a phenomenal player. That 2003 team had some other kids on it that worked extremely hard with Jason.

"This year, based upon what we lost last year, in the sense of we lost 99 goals, I thought that we were going to be in a rebuilding mode. The boys obviously thought otherwise. They were in a reloading mode."

For a school that possesses a rich tradition in soccer, it's been a combination of the talented students and a successful leader in Allinson that has paved the way over the past two decades.

"The kids that we're getting are exceptional student-athletes," Allinson said. "They're not problems. They go on to become very productive members of society. We've got doctors, we've got lawyers, we've got accountants, we've got teachers, we've got soldiers.

"It's a wide range of people that we have out there, and they're all successful. Is that because of soccer? I don't know. I think it hopefully has a little bit to do with it. A lot of it has to do with the small, tight-knit community."

The team's longest run at the state level under Allinson came in 2003-04 when the Falcons defeated Danville 1-0 in the first round. This year's team has an opportunity to make history under Allinson. With a victory in their opening-round game against District 3's Pequea Valley, the Falcons will advance to the quarterfinals under Allinson for a second time.

That is certainly one of the team's goals moving forwad.

"There is a chance that can work out for us," Allinson said. "That's what we're shooting for, and that's what the goal is. We're going to take it one game at a time. There are only four games left.

"I think they have their priorities set. They do realize this is an opportunity that doesn't come for everybody. They worked very hard for it."