For about a month, Salisbury sophomore midfielder Rylee Donaldson was relegated to the sidelines with a broker right wrist. The injury caused her to miss a good chunk of the regular season, and she was still not cleared for contact in the Lady Falcons’ Colonial League semifinals match a couple weeks ago.

After playing in two playoff games since then, including the Colonial League championship and first round of districts, Donaldson’s impact was felt most when Salisbury was in dire need.

Deadlocked in a 1-1 game against rival Northwestern, Donaldson’s free kick from 40 yards deep found its way through the arms of Lady Tiger goal McKenna Amey to advance the Lady Falcons to the District 11 Class 2A championship game with a 2-1 win over the Northwestern.

“Going down like that and staying out for about a month was rough,” Donaldson said. “Sitting on the sidelines is a lot tougher than you think. But I knew my team would carry us to this point. Being able to get back out here when it mattered was great.”

Donaldson’s free kick came with just over 16 minutes remaining in the half, and the Salisbury defense held Northwestern from any significant shots on net.

“I saw Caylin [Meikrantz] and Paige [Nicholas] go down; they worked hard to get the ball in there,” Donaldson said. “I knew that was within my range and if I could just put it in the box. I definitely kicked it a little harder than usual.”

The Lady Falcons met top-seeded Pine Grove on Tuesday night for their first district championship in program history. That game was played after Press deadline. See next week’s issue for coverage.

It’s been a goal of the Falcons since August to make it to this year’s state playoff tournament.

“It is even more special when the girls soccer program has never been to a district final, and to finally be there feels really rewarding after the hard work our team has put in,” said Meikrantz, who was responsible for the game’s first goal. “To be district champions would show all the heart and soul that we put into the game and how connected our team has become. From the beginning of the season we said we wanted to go to states, and here we are one game away.”

Meikrantz scored midway through the second half after Salisbury came out of the locker room looking like a completely different team on offense. The shots were of higher quality in the second half. Salisbury outshot Northwestern 10-1 in the second half compared to a 7-4 Lady Tiger advantage in the opening 40 minutes.

After Caitlin Hoeing ripped a shot on goal that bounced off Amey, Meikrantz raced to get the rebound and punched it back in for the go-ahead score.

“We used our outside midfielders to separate their defense is how the first goal happened,” Meikrantz said. “I knew we had to get the first goal to build the confidence for our team that there was no way we were losing the game.”

“In the first half we did not play awful, but it also wasn’t our best,” Donaldson said. “We knew we could possess the ball better and play it on the carpet. I think the defense came out solid.”

That lead did not last long. Northwestern responded not even two minutes later when Logan Collins saved the ball from going out of the end line and found an open Sara Hathaway for the equalizer with 22:52 left on the clock.

It was the first time any player on Salisbury’s team had beaten Northwestern in a varsity game. The teams tied in their only regular season meeting this year.

The Falcons could have folded in the pressure-filled playoff situation. Instead, they seemed to use that as fuel. The shots continued to come, and it was Donaldson’s impressive strike that turned out to be the difference-maker.

“When we first played Northwestern, I’m kind of glad we tied because mentally going into this game we weren’t defeated or had less confidence than them,” Meikrantz said. “We knew it was going to be a close match and it all depended on who would get the final goal to seal the deal. And we did that.”

Salisbury, which earned the No. 3 seed in the District 11 tournament, started district play last Wednesday (Oct. 25) with an 8-0 victory over No. 6 Tamaqua.

Donaldson had two goals and an assist in the game.

“She is a workhorse out there,” said Salisbury head coach Rick Babyak. “She is all over the place and has a ton of energy. I call her a big-engine-type of player. She has great skills and great game sense.

“For her to get back into her game, it really sparks the rest of the team because we feed off of that energy and skill level. It’s nice to see that she’s having fun out there and feeling comfortable, it makes everyone else play better.”

Kelly Gardus also scored two Falcon goals in the game, while Michelle Diaz, Kelly Kuscan, Holly Bruns and Erica Holben also netted goals for the Falcons.