Salisbury’s defense kept Northwestern out of the cage for over 20 minutes of play in Thursday’s Colonial League field hockey meeting with the Tigers.

But in a matter of just 54 seconds, Northwestern scored two goals for a 2-0 lead going into halftime. That all but closed the doors against the Falcons (3-11 overall, 2-10 in Colonial League), as the Tigers (6-6-1, 6-4-1) added two more goals in the second half in their 4-0 victory at Salisbury High School.

That’s been a commonality for the Falcons this season. Once their opponent breaks through with a goal, the Falcons struggle to respond from that deficit and regain momentum.

“I think today the weather was against us,” Salisbury head coach Meredith Makoul said. “We had cold feet and cold fingers, and we let that get the best of us. We came out strong. I think one thing we struggle with is when we have one score against us, we kind of let that get to us instead of making up for it.”

Courtney Page got Northwestern on the scoreboard with 9:19 to play in the first half after Salisbury goalie Peyton Stauffer saved an initial Tiger shot.

Not even a minute later, Page was the beneficiary of another Tiger goal. Haley Dietrich fired a pass in front of Salisbury’s net, and Page cleaned up the ball with her second tally of the game.

“When you score, as a team you’re just more motivated to score more,” Makoul said. “I’m sure they came out more aggressive, but I don’t know if we were ready for that. We kind of dwell on that first goal instead of coming out stronger and focusing on it.”

That momentum carried into the second half for Northwestern. After Stauffer came up with two clutch saves to keep the Falcons within at least striking distance, Leighanna Lister put Salisbury out of reach when she finished a Grace Horn pass with a goal with 15:06 remaining.

Dietrich put the stamp on the Tigers’ scoring with a goal with 21 seconds left on the clock.

Despite the back-to-back goals late in the second half, Makoul was pleased with the team’s defensive effort.

“Our defense was strong, which was something we lacked the first game we played Northwestern,” Makoul said.

Stauffer recorded three saves in goal for Salisbury.

The Falcons have won just two games in the Colonial League portion of their schedule, but that doesn’t tell the whole story of how much improvement the team has made since the preseason. Makoul is seeing various aspects of the team come together on the field, even in their losses, which bodes well for the future of this team.

“All people see are the scores,” Makoul said. “If you’re just reading the paper, it’s hard to see what’s actually on the field. But our girls are doing really well. This is a team that takes what we learn in practice and applies it to the game, which is something we’ve been struggling with in the past.”

Salisbury travels to Northern Lehigh on Wednesday for a 3:30 p.m. start.