Salisbury coach Mark Allinson doesn’t shy away from putting his team up against teams from bigger schools. He believes that playing tougher competition is one way to help his players to improve their skills.

That’s why he was looking forward to games against Northampton and Allen on this year’s schedule. The Falcons (2-4-0 Colonial, 3-7-1 overall) lost to Northampton 3-0 and tied Allen 1-1.

“When you go up against these bigger schools, you really notice the difference in depth,” said Allinson. “They just have a lot more kids to choose from, so it makes sense that they’re going to have a deeper talent pool.

“That doesn’t mean that we can’t beat them, it just means that we have to be at the top of our game and that’s what the kids learn. They can use that when they go up against better teams in the Colonial League or in playoffs.”

Against Northampton (4-1-3 EPC, 5-1-3 overall), it was easy to see exactly what Allinson was talking about. The Konkrete Kids came out with a quick goal from Russell King for a 1-0 lead. A little later in the first half, Dalton Domchek and Joey Tiwold scored goals to put Northampton up 3-0.

The second half was a different story as Northampton continued to press as they did in the first 40 minutes but weren’t able to create the same amount of opportunities that they did earlier in the game.

“I thought we played much better in the second half,” said Allinson. “Our guys started to know what to look for and were able to disrupt some of their plays and we were able to start creating some opportunities in front of their goal, but we just weren’t able to finish on them.”

Against Allen (2-6-0 EPC, 2-6-1) on Monday, Andre Fernandes picked up a goal and goalkeeper Baxter Reihman made seven saves.

“Soccer at Salisbury is kind of cyclical,” said out Allinson. “You have a few good years and then you have to take some lumps for a while. Right now, we’re playing a lot of younger kids, most of them are sophomores, and they’re picking up the game well. Based on the way these kids are working and developing their game, I think that when these kids are seniors we’ll have something pretty special.”

Over the next week, the Falcons will need a big push against some difficult teams to get into a position where they can fight for a spot in districts.

The Falcons play Palmerton (2-4-0 , 3-5-0), Wilson (3-3-0 , 5-3-1) and Saucon Valley (5-1-0 , 8-1-0) before they head into the final week of the regular season.