Salisbury couldn't have asked for a better start during last week's contest against Northwestern.

Without one of their top goal scorers in Connor Wagner, and facing unbeaten Northwestern on their home turf, a quick start is one that played in favor of the Falcons.

Salisbury jumped on the Tigers early after Danny Walters' score from Levi Renninger 1:08 into regulation gave Salisbury a 1-0 lead. That lead didn't last for long, however.

The Tigers (6-0) tied the game at the 16:50 mark of the first half, and JD Haaf's goal in the final 13 minutes of regulation was the deciding factor in the Falcons' 2-1 defeat last Tuesday at Northwestern Middle School.

"We were playing good there for about the first 20 minutes," Salisbury head coach Mark Allinson said. "They sort of woke up a little bit. Anytime you're able to go in a road game and score first as decisively as we did, that's certainly a plus."

Through early last week, Wagner led the team with seven goals and Walters tallied six for the Falcons. But while Wagner, who suffered a foot injury against Bangor on September 12, didn't suit up against the Tigers, the Falcons (4-1-1) had their opportunities on goal.

After Jonathan Blaine's goal on a Tiger corner kick tied it at a goal apiece, Salisbury's Brett Spencer had a good look on goal minutes later. His shot sailed just over the crossbar.

"We moved some people around, and we were trying to look for some combinations," Allinson said. "Certainly Connor is a big loss, but there are more heads on this monster than we had last year. We have pretty balanced scoring going on. On any given day anybody can step up."

Down 2-1, Walters fired the Falcons' first decent shot on goal of the second half with under six minutes to play. His rip from the right side of the goal was just off the mark.

A little more than a minute later, a Falcon cross found Zach Adams in front of the Tigers' goal. But with a wide-open right side of the goal available, Adams' header trickled a few feet wide from making it a tied game once again.

"If they're in the right place at the right time, and the opportunity is there, we're asking them to burry these things," Allinson said. "We had that cross right at the end with the header. It looked like it was going in. I was just watching it go wide."

The Tigers outshot the Falcons 8-3 in the second half.

"We created some opportunities for ourselves," Allinson said. "Unfortunately when you play the better teams, you have to capitalize on those opportunities. Today we didn't, but we'll be better for it."

Following their first loss of the season against the Tigers, the Falcons bounced back with wins over Wilson (7-0) last Thursday and Bethlehem Catholic (3-0) on Saturday.

Results from Monday's game against Saucon Valley, currently second in the Colonial League, were not available at time of press. The Falcons host Northwestern again on Thursday.