The fate of the Salisbury girls’ soccer team, at least regarding its Colonial League playoff hopes, rested on the final game of the regular season. A win against rival Southern Lehigh on senior night could have punched the Lady Falcons’ ticket to the league tournament.

A loss, however, would be heartbreaking as Southern Lehigh would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker for the fourth and final playoff spot. The Lady Falcons felt just how heartbreaking it was to be so close to one of its goals and come up short.

Southern Lehigh (9-2-1) earned the No. 4 seed in the Colonial League tournament after defeating Salisbury (9-2-1) last week, 2-0. The Lady Falcons will have a bit of a break before they start play in the District 11 Class 2A tournament.

“The girls have had a great season to date,” head coach Rick Babyak said. “It’s unfortunate that we came up short and missed the league playoffs. It was extremely tight at the top of the Colonial League this season. This last loss just barely dropped us out of contention.”

Emily Jordan connected for Southern Lehigh’s first goal of the game, a corner kick that was set up by Bella Touzeau. That score held until late in the second half when Salisbury pushed forward looking for the equalizer. Instead, Kristen Cocozza sealed the victory with a rip into the back of the net past Lady Falcon goalie Sarah McGee.

While the loss keeps the Falcons out of one postseason it gives them a little more time to prepare for another one down the road. Districts won’t begin until Oct. 24, giving Salisbury 11 days in between games to prepare for its next competition.

“The first priority is getting everybody healthy,” Babyak said. “Many of our players have been carrying injuries through the last few games. Hopefully we can get our legs back under us and get back on track this week.”

Babyak knows he’ll need his team at full strength in the loaded Class 2A field. Northwestern (15-2-1) and Palisades (16-2) are ranked first and second in the district rankings and earned berths in the league playoffs that begin this week. It’s likely that, if Salisbury gets by its first district game, it will take on one of those Colonial League rivals to open the tournament.

“It’s a very strong field in the 2A bracket,” Babyak said. “Besides Palisades and Northwestern, you also have Pine Grove. All are tough teams. We will be doing everything we can to prepare ourselves this week. I still believe we have the potential to beat any team on any given day. But we must show up ready to go to battle as a team.”