PHOTO BY BRIAN HOFFMAN
The Salem High boys’ soccer team bounced back from a tough loss to Blacksburg with a 6-1 win over Hidden Valley at Spartan Field Tuesday. Salem dominated the Titans, losing the shutout late in the game. Logan Lavinder led the Spartans with two goals and two assists and Graham Fischer had two goals and one assist. Anthony Rugama and TJ Fisher also had goals and TJ, Elijah Clark and Kai Weiss all had assists. The win lifted Salem to 9-2-1 on the season and both losses have been to Blacksburg. Last Friday in Salem the Bruins scored early and made it hold up for a hard-fought win. The shots on goal were about even. “Really thought the guys settled in after giving up the early goal and played well, but we couldn’t find the net,” said Spartan coach David Atkins. “Max Benne had nine saves in the net and a solid performance.” The Spartans have never beaten Blacksburg and may play them twice more this year. If the Bruins and Salem are one-two in the River Ridge standings at the end of the regular season they would play for the district championship, and the two could also meet in the region. Salem is at Christiansburg Friday, and next Tuesday they play Patrick Henry at Merrill Gainer Stadium in Roanoke. That will likely determine if Salem is in the district championship game as the Spartans tied PH the first time around and will likely need to beat them Tuesday to play Blacksburg for the championship.