The Salisbury field hockey team has been improving each year since head coach Jane Brennan took over in 2017.

The Falcons had been finishing near the bottom of the Colonial League standings for a few years before the recent resurgence. Now they are a perennial District 11 playoff qualifier, having already clinched their spot in this year’s tournament just over halfway through the 2024 season.

“I am pleased,” said Brennan. “I’m proud. I’m elated. But we’re also continually talking about getting better and not letting off the gas. We need to refine and tweak the little things.

“This is a phenomenal group of girls that has learned to mesh with each other and trust each other. They see every game as a challenge, but also a chance for victory.”

A 4-0 win over Saucon Valley last week ensured the Falcons would finish the season with at least a .500 win-loss record in Colonial League play, which meant their place in the district tournament was secure. That fact is indicated on the district web site with a green highlight.

“We didn’t know it happened until I looked on the web site and saw the highlight,” said Salisbury junior forward Gwyn DeFazio. “I sent to the group chat [Friday] and we all celebrated.”

DeFazio was one of four Falcons to score a goal in the district-clinching win, along with teammates Ellie Schneider, Maya Afif and Lauren Kushma.

The team continued to celebrate Saturday morning when it traveled to Bethlehem Catholic for a nonleague game and hung a season-high 14 goals on the Golden Hawks.

“If you would have told any of us last year,” said junior defender Meredith Kelley, “that we would be this far, scoring 14 goals against any team, regardless of who it was, we wouldn’t have believed you.

“This team, this group of girls, it’s such a community. We have so much fun together.”

DeFazio found the cage five times in Saturday’s win. Afif and Sarah Beckage scored two goals each, while Kendra Morgan, Kushma, Anna Grubb, Ellie Schneider and Emma Yakaitis scored one goal each.

Through Saturday’s win, Salisbury has scored 62 goals this season and allowed just nine.

Junior goal keeper Caroline Gedney, in her third year as the teams’ starting goalie, posted her seventh shut out of the season Saturday as the Falcons improved to 10-2 overall.

Kelley anchors the defense as the center back, while Schneider controls the midfield and gets the ball onto the sticks of the Falcons’ scorers.

In addition to the shut outs, Salisbury has held four opponents to just one goal and only two have score twice or more.

The Falcons’ only two losses have come to league leaders Northwestern (10-0 overall; 9-0 Colonial League) and Southern Lehigh (8-2; 8-1). A 3-0 loss to Northwestern came back on Aug. 27 in the season opener, while the 1-0 to Southern Lehigh came on Sept. 16.

Those losses show how far this team has come as much as the wins. Kelley said in past years the top teams in the league would get close to double-digit goals. This year Salisbury has a completely different feeling heading into those games, and is eager for another shot at both of them.

“In the past seeing Northwestern or Southern Lehigh on the schedule was kind of defeating,” said Kelley. “We knew what the result was going to be and it was a little discouraging. This year we have gone into both of those games with a hopeful mindset. We have hope that we can win.”

Salisbury will host the Spartans in the final game of the regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 9, but won’t meet Northwestern again unless the two teams meet in league playoffs. The Tigers drop down to Class A in districts, while Salisbury and Southern Lehigh play in 2A.

As the Class 2A district rankings stand, the Falcons and Spartans are likely the only two teams that will qualify for districts, sending them straight to the title game where they will play not just for the district trophy, but also for one spot in the state playoffs.

Reaching a district championship game isn’t something DeFazio thought was possible a few years back, when she went out for a middle school team that had just two other players signed up to play, Beckage and Afif.

“It’s been really great to seeing a lot more girls being part of the program and it growing,” said DeFazio. “Freshman year we went from barely making districts to now where we’ve already qualified.”

The Falcons have also benefited from a cooperative agreement that allows Allentown Central Catholic students to play on the team because there’s no longer have a field hockey team at ACC.

Seven Vikettes, including Kushma, are on this year’s Salisbury team, which has 21 players on the varsity roster.

“We have so many girls from Central Catholic that have helped our team so much,” said Kelley. “We love them. They’re awesome. They’re some of our top point-scorers.”

Kelley also complimented Brennan and assistants Anne Ruiz and Kim DeFazio for helping the team improve over the last few seasons.

Barring catastrophe over the last seven regular season games, Salisbury will enter the Colonial League playoffs in a few weeks as the No. 3 or 4 seed. It will mark the first time since 2003 that the team reached the league tournament.

“We’re excited to take this team far this season and really go far in the postseason, and have fun doing it,” said Gwyn DeFazio.