The two games played so far by the Salisbury girls soccer team could not be any more different.

In one game, the young team played a tight defensive battle. In the other it got into a game where its opponent had the upper hand from the beginning of the game.

For Falcons head coach Rick Babyak there were bright spots to take from each game even though both were losses.

The season opened with a 1-0 loss against Northern Lehigh and in game number two, the Falcons were shot down 10-1 by Saucon Valley.

Northern Lehigh could be a pretty good team this season and playing the Bulldogs as tough as the Falcons did is a testament to the fight that Salisbury has.

While a 10-0 loss is always a blemish on a team’s results, the truth is that the Falcons played a very good team much better this season than they did last year even though the score didn’t reflect a lot.

“They worked through the whole game,” said Babyak of his team’s effort against Saucon Valley. “We had a lot going against us today, including having to go with our backup goalie (Charlotte Neuhs) and she had a couple shots get past her and then I think that she got overwhelmed, but all the credit goes to her for stepping up and stepping in. I felt that she did a good job considering what she was facing.”

Elliot Policare and Piper Policare got the first two goals for Saucon Valley, scoring within just under two minutes of each other. Tesia Mikuta picked up two goals, including one in the first quarter where she showed off her ballhandling skills and worked through a double team to get her first goal.

Many of the Saucon Valley goals were set up by strong passing and a few others there wasn’t much that Neuhs could have done to stop the shot. One goal went just over her as she leaped and stretched her arms as far as she could only to have the ball go just over her fingertips. Another hit off the crossbar and trickled into the goal, and a third rebounded off her after she made a strong save on a shot only to have it rebound right to a Saucon Valley attacker who put a shot past Neuhs for Saucon Valley’s final goal.

What Babyak loved was that with his team trailing 10-0 late in the game, the Falcons still put together some solid runs down the field to put shots on goal or just wide of the goal. With just :42 left to play, Molly Foley took one of those shots and got it past goalie Alaina Jacavage, who had come in at halftime.

“They physically out played us a couple of times, but I felt we really held up well against them overall,” said Babyak. “It wasn’t just about not giving up, it was about the fact that we did some really nice things, soccer wise. This team has shown so much improvement over a year ago that there is no question in my mind that this team will do OK. I think we just need some confidence and we have some winnable games on the schedule and if we get one or two of them it will make all the difference in the world.”