The cards were stacked against Salisbury even before its playoff game this past weekend.

Then that stack got even larger.

Allentown Central Catholic scored two goals in the first half, and that was enough for the Vikettes in their 2-1 victory over Salisbury in Friday’s District 11 Class 2A girls soccer quarterfinal.

“We started out strong, but gave up two goals in the first half,” Salisbury head coach Rick Babyak said. “Our girls fought back hard in the second half, and 10 minutes in we scored a beautiful goal. A corner kick from Caroline Kenyon led to a Kayla Trenge cross that Kathy Medina headed into the far corner. It was one of the nicest goals of the season and really motivated us.”

The No. 6 seeded Lady Falcons knew they’d have their hands full against No. 3 seed Central Catholic, who lost just three games in the regular season. And early on it looked like the Vikettes would cruise to their ninth win of the season after Josslin Muto scored both of those first-half goals.

But Salisbury (4-4-2) had some fight left despite the 2-0 hole. Medina connected on her fourth goal of the season on a feed from Trenge, cutting Central Catholic’s lead in half with roughly 30 minutes to play.

Despite the defense, however, holding Central Catholic scoreless for the entire second half, Salisbury could not find an equalizer.

“We had Central off balance quite a bit after that goal, but we couldn’t quite find that second goal” Babyak said. “It’s always hard when the season ends so suddenly, but I am proud of the way the girls fought until the end. “

With only half of a normal regular season played this fall due to Covid-19, Salisbury struggled to find its rhythm on a consistent basis. It was tough for both the players and coaches to adjust throughout the season, and perhaps that played a role once again on Saturday.

“The shortened season didn’t favor us,” Babyak said. “We played nine games instead of the normal 18 before the playoffs. We weren’t quite able to make the adjustments to get ourselves playing consistently at the top of our game. But all in all, I am very happy with the way this year’s team performed in spite of the added external factors.

“I would have liked to have had the chance to play more teams. The unbalanced shortened schedule magnified the losses and ties, and made each goal for or against more critical.”

Medina’s four goals finished second on the team, while her three assists were atop the list. Junior forward Quinn Wittman led Salisbury with six goals, while seniors Hannah Mamay, Kerry Seiler and Caroline Kenyon each finished with a goal and two assists on the season.

Sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Kamp finished with a 1.3 goals-against average and led a stout defense that allowed just 14 goals in 10 games this fall. Trenge, senior Syrena Pope, junior Chase Watto and freshman Katie Seiler were also key pieces to that unit.