The Salisbury High School girls soccer team dealt with a little bit of bad luck in its most recent game. It’s top scorer in senior Quinn Wittman suffered an injury and was forced to leave the game early. The Falcons could not make up for her loss and dropped a home Colonial League game, 5-1 to Saucon Valley, last Saturday afternoon at Salisbury High School.

Head coach Rick Babyak knows the talent and experience Wittman brings to the team, and having to play without her is tough to come back from.

“After our top player Quinn Wittman went out early with injury, we struggled to find our balance,” said Babyak. “We rely heavily on Quinn both defensively and offensively so it left a big void.

“We gave up too much ground in the first half allowing them to have too many looks at goal. In the second half we tightened things up on the defensive side.”

Aaliyah M’Bai scored the lone goal for Salisbury (2-6-1 overall) and was a bright spot for the Falcons Saturday. She received the ball inside the 18-yard box and created pressure on the Panthers defense and drew a foul where she later converted from the penalty spot.

“Aaliyah M’Bai did a nice job using her speed to create several chances on breakaways,” Babyak said. “She was fouled in the box on one of those breaks and scored on the penalty kick.”

Even though five goals were scored, goalie Hannah Kemp has been one of the strong parts of the Salisbury defense.

“Hannah Kamp has been averaging about 17 saves a game,” said Babyak. “She has been doing an exceptional job keeping us in games. We can always count on her at the back end of our defense. She keeps us in a lot of games.”

At the middle part of the season, the Falcons are looking at improving every day and every game, and Babyak thinks they are doing so.

“We are making small and steady improvements as we go,” Babyak said. “We are trying to instill a sense of confidence in all of our players to give them the ability to consistently rise to challenges as they come.”