The Salisbury boys soccer team is one that can usually be penciled into the district playoff bracket before the season even begins.

The District 11 web site doesn’t even go back far enough to find a year when the Falcons weren’t in the postseason tournament.

Even the best programs suffer a down year once in a while, and this year was it for Salisbury. The Falcons missed out on districts for the first time since 2000 when they finished 7-10-2 overall and 5-8-2 in the league.

Because of a number of different factors in 2017, the Falcons came up short of the postseason this year. Salisbury’s struggles on the field resulted in a 4-14 record (3-9 in Colonial League) and losing six of their final seven league contests.

“I believe it was a frustrating season as opposed to a disappointing season,” head coach Mark Allinson said. “We did have glimmers of where we could be, but we had numerous extraneous factors that played into the season. Without wanting it to sound like excuses, we had a number issues - injury issues, self-discipline issues, youth issues, and having a bullseye on our backs all season long because of last season.

“As for not qualifying, we didn’t deserve to be there because we couldn’t get it done during the season. Hopefully we can turn it around in the offseason and regain where we have been for so long. It will take a lot of work and effort.”

Like all other schools, Salisbury had to deal with losing plenty of key seniors from last year’s district title team. But it also had to replace the unexpected transfer of Patrick Adams, the Falcons’ leading scorer in 2016 with 27 goals. A total of 95 goals had left the Falcons after the 2016 season.

The effect was an offensive unit that struggled to find its go-to scorer and put the ball into the back of the net. Salisbury scored 17 goals in 12 league games, but that tally may be a bit misleading with seven goals coming in one game against Northern Lehigh.

The Falcons were shut out five times in that stretch.

“Our biggest challenge was finding goals that either graduated or transferred,” Allinson said. “We needed a predominant finisher and that is what we lacked. We shot ourselves in the foot numerous times with self-discipline and control issues.”

Despite the uncharacteristic season, the longtime Falcon coach saw positives throughout the fall season. A number of his younger players stepped into new roles and held their own in spurts. That should bode well for future success for the boys in blue and white.

Seniors Jaime Calero (4 goals, 2 assists) and Yazid Darawsheh (3 goals) led a balanced scoring attack for Salisbury. Those two will graduate, but junior Prince Radande (3 goals), junior Denis Fernandez (3 goals), junior Kia Moghadassi (2 goals, 1 assist), sophomore Aaron Kahn (5 assists) and sophomore Andre Fernandes (2 goals, 1 assist) all figure to return.

“Despite the negatives, the season did have some bright spots,” Allinson said. “We were able to play eight freshmen and sophomores throughout the season.

“That will hopefully transpire into some good things down the road. We started five in one game and it’s been mixed throughout the season.”