This is head coach Mark Allinson’s 25th season leading the Salisbury boys’ soccer team. The Falcons entered this season more or less like many others-with a solid 30 or so players on the roster.

But the 2019 season has turned out to be unlike any other during Allinson’s tenure. With the midpoint of the season behind Salisbury, Allinson is now without eight starters for a Falcon team that has won just two games this fall.

“The season hasn’t progressed how I would have liked,” Allinson said. “We’re actually coming up on the harder part of our schedule. We’re extremely injured. Last Saturday [Sept. 14] we went into Northampton down two starters, and came out down eight. And then [goalie] Baxter [Reihman] ended up getting hurt [against Palmerton].

“I can’t remember having a season like this with this many injuries. Last year we had some concussions and that kind of thing, but this is just like one after another.”

The Falcons (2-7 overall; 1-5 in Colonial League) were able to pick up two wins last week and halt a six-game losing streak, but it didn’t come without a price. It seems that every time Allinson gets one player back from injury, another one is lost, which makes it difficult to form any chemistry on the pitch.

Those who have missed time to injury thus far include: Will Raymond (sophomore defender), Andrew Hines (sophomore defender), Chris Marino (junior defender), Aaron Kahn (senior defender) and Nicholas Jones (senior midfielder), among others.

“We have concussions, ankles, bone contusions, hips, hip flexors, quads and ligaments in the back,” Allinson said. “Some of them are to our more central players as well, so that’s an issue for us.

“We can’t get out of our own way. Just when we get guys back, somebody else goes down. So it’s not like we are getting any type on continuity. It seems like every game we are dressing JV players and putting them out. In some of the games, they have done a very nice job for us.”

Salisbury opened last week with a convincing 5-2 win against Northern Lehigh on Tuesday, just three days after that barrage of injuries against Northampton.

The Falcons then ended the week with a hard-fought 3-2 victory against Palmerton. Junior midfielder Anthony Cortes-Torres scored once and junior forward Andre Fernandes added two goals, including the game-winner with 21:46 left to play. Fernandes leads the Falcons with 10 goals scored and has been one of the consistent goal-scorers for Allinson. He scored four in the Northern Lehigh victory.