Both the Salisbury and Notre Dame of East Stroudsburg high school boys soccer teams must have not liked playing in shortened seasons last year as they missed out on scoring goals in more games. The two teams certainly made up for it in a big way in the season opener for both last Friday afternoon. The teams combined for 14 goals as the Falcons came out on top 9-5 in nonleague action at Salisbury High School.

It might not have been the prettiest or perfect game overall from a team perspective, but Falcon head coach Mark Allinson knows getting a win in any game, especially a conference game, is always important no matter what it looks like.

“It’s good to get off to a positive start to the season, as I hope that this sets the tone for the rest of the year,” said Allinson. “You never want to lose, let alone your season opener, so this is a step in the right direction that hopefully carries some positive momentum for us to get more here in the near future.”

The nine goals are the most scored by the team in a game in the last two seasons. Seven different players found the back of the net as the ball moved around and the Falcons were able to show the depth of their offensive success.

“It was great to see,” Allinson said. “We tinkered with our formation and have the personnel to establish quick counter attacks and create a lot of opportunities at the net. The scoring was spread around involving a lot of players in different positions on the field. It was a total team effort and I was happy to see that.”

Nick Amado and Noah Kichline each tallied two goals, and Jack Monahan, Cam’ren Smith, Jackson Kramp, Jacob Knerr and Heriberto Hernandez all added one apiece for Salisbury, who outshot the Spartans 14-7 overall.

Salisbury scored six goals in the first half and led 6-0 at halftime before Notre Dame broke through for five second half goals to make it a contest.

Alejandro Zuniga-Garcia had two assists, while Carver Moyer, Aidan Mathieu, Monahan and Amado contributed one each. Salisbury mixed and matched their goalies to try and find the right one as Kyle Artis, Tyson Utesch, Blaine Berger and Kevin Smith all played throughout the game and combined for two saves.