The 2016 season got off to a great start for the Salisbury field hockey team. In the opener, the Lady Falcons earned a 3-2 overtime victory against Bethlehem Catholic thanks to two goals by Isabella Martinez, including the game-winner in overtime.

But since that Sept. 3 contest on the Lady Falcons’ home turf, goals have been hard to come by for Salisbury. The Lady Falcons were held scoreless in their next three games, all Colonial League contests, to fall to 1-3 on the young season.

Their most recent loss was a 2-0 defeat to Catasauqua over the weekend in which Salisbury generated just four shots. Prior to that were shutouts against Southern Lehigh (7-0) and Palisades (3-0), but the stakes will be even higher with games against Moravian Academy on Tuesday and Northern Lehigh on Thursday. Both teams are unbeaten in league play.

“Word is that Moravian is the favorite to win [Colonial League] this year,” head coach Meredith Makhoul said. “And Northern Lehigh has been good in the past. We have a big week ahead of us. The past two games we’ve realized that we need to change some things. From a coaching perspective I know there are different things on the field I need to change.”

One area that Makhoul and her coaching staff will work on is shifting players into different positions. That change may open things up for the Lady Falcons offensively, who have struggled to punch the ball into the cage in recent years.

“Coming off of the first game where we were able to get shots off and goals in, it was hard the next two games,” Makhoul said. “It’s not necessarily what we expected, but we’ve struggled with getting goals in the cage. It’s something we still need to work on.”

In that season-opening win against Becahi, momentum was a key factor that helped push a young Lady Falcon team to a win in the extra session. After Kaitlyn Keller scored Salisbury’s first goal of the season on an assist from Madison Jewell in the first half, Martinez followed that up with a strike in the second half to tie the game.

That energy transferred into overtime, and Martinez played the role of hero. She was the beneficiary of a breakaway goal as she faced a one-on-one opportunity with Becahi’s goalie.

“We were passing. We were dodging, and we used each other instead of just trying to do it individually,” Makhoul said. “I think the confidence was stronger that game. Once you get one in, then you kind of know, ‘Oh, I can keep doing this.’ It came down to the girls kept pushing.”

Last year’s meeting between the two teams also went to overtime. And the Lady Falcons were also on the winning end of that game.

“I think that might have prepared them a little bit,” Makhoul said. “We won 1-0 last year. I think it was a little faster this year. Seven on seven is tough, especially after playing a full game. We don’t have the type of subs we had hoped we would have. But the girls didn’t give up in that game.”

Salisbury has a young roster with just one senior and two juniors. Makhoul anticipates the offense to get better in the upcoming weeks as the young players gain varsity experience.

One area that has remained consistent is the play of goalie Peyton Stauffer, despite facing a large amount of shots each game.

“She is really a strong, strong goalie,” Makhoul said. “Our defense isn’t where it needs to be. She is definitely improving. She was injured for a few days in preseason, but she picked up right where she left off. She didn’t go backwards at all with that injury.

“We do have very good talent on the team. I just wish the scores were a little bit more in our favor. But we’ll get there.”