A spot in the District 11 Class 2A girls’ soccer championship game was once again on the line for Salisbury. A year after its best season in program history, the Falcons had the opportunity to avenge last year’s district championship loss and earn a second straight PIAA playoff appearance.

Palisades wasn’t on board with that script.

The No. 2 seeded Pirates (16-3) broke free from a tie game in the second half to down the No. 3 seeded Falcons, 3-2, last Thursday at Nazareth High School. The loss ended the Salisbury’s (13-5-2) season perhaps a bit earlier than it would have liked, but there were still plenty of positives to take out of 2017.

“There’s a lot of pain when you lose a game like that,” Salisbury head coach Rick Babyak said. “But the bottom line that they need to take away from this is that they should be extremely proud of how they played, and how they’ve played all season. This game is indicative of how this team can play.”

Salisbury had its share of opportunities on goal as the second half progressed. Rylee Donaldson put two free kicks on target that nearly found the back of net in the first 15 minutes following intermission.

But while the Falcons couldn’t capitalize on those chances, Palisades did take advantage on the few that it was able to generate. Sydney Odle set up Shelby Bryan for the go-ahead goal with just over eight minutes remaining, giving the Pirates a 3-2 lead it would not relinquish.

The Falcons had an opportunity in the final seconds when Donaldson placed a perfect ball into Kelly Gardus inside the 18. Gardus’s header toward Palisades’ goal, however, was right at goalie Trinity Williams.

“We had our chances there is no question,” Babyak said. “I am extremely proud at the way the girls played today. They really did play some good, solid soccer. I think in the second half maybe we spent a little bit more time defending than attacking.”

After Palisades scored a late goal in the final minutes of the first half to tie the game at 2-2, Salisbury also had to deal with a number of injury issues in the second half as Palisades gained a bit of momentum. Gardus and Erica Holben both left the game briefly in that second half to get injuries attended to, and Donaldson was limping late in the game after taking an awkward fall.

“That’s a part of the problem, too,” Babyak said. “Our bench is a little short, and there are some injuries. Kelly Gardus sprained an ankle, so she had to come out and get taped. Erica got her arm wrenched out from her shoulder. Donaldson at the end at a critical time was down. It’s tough, but that’s a part of the game.”

It only took the Pirates 10 minutes to break through early with a goal from Cassie Mitsch. But the Falcons responded behind their senior leader and second-leading goal scorer.

Gardus punched in the equalizer near the midway point of the opening half. The senior then put the Falcons in front 2-1 with 11:35 to play in the first half with her second goal in 14 minutes.

That score stood until the Pirates’ Heather Johnson tied the game with four minutes to play in the half. It was a half unlike the first game between the two teams back in mid-September, one that featured just one goal in a 1-0 Palisades victory.

“Both teams did not play particularly well that game,” Babyak said. “There was one fluke goal pretty much in that game, so I was actually honestly really looking forward to this replay. Both teams played much better. It lived up to its billing. Its unfortunate that we didn’t put them away when we had the momentum.”