Salisbury’s defense of its 2013 2A state soccer title started with a shutout. The No. 5 Hornets, winners of two of the past three N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A boys soccer titles, defeated No. 28 North Surry 4-0 on Tuesday.

The Hornets (19-4-0) play their second-round game Saturday against either No. 12 Chase or No. 21 Randleman. Salisbury has now won its last 16 games.

Salisbury got a pair of first half goals from Landon Goodman and another score from Hector Salinas for a 3-0 lead at halftime.

The Hornets had their chances in the opening 20 minutes of the game. Goodman had two shots sail wide left and another from point-blank range stopped by North Surry goalkeeper Angel Luna in the first 12 minutes of the game.

“I felt like there were some opportunities we didn’t capitalize on,” head coach Matt Parrish said. “It was kind of like once the dam breaks, once we got one, we’d have a great chance to get another one.”

Goodman broke through when he received a pass inside the 18-yard box and had an easy shot past Luna. It didn’t take long for him to get his second. That came on a pass from Bryan Fragoso to the back post, and Goodman made a sliding kick into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead with 17 minutes left in the first half.

“He’s a momentum player,” Parrish said. “At times, he is his own worst enemy if he feels a couple of chances [get away]. When Landon Goodman’s mentality is right, we have a dynamic offense. He’s a confidence player.”

Salinas’ goal right before halftime was a backbreaker for the Greyhounds. Salinas got the ball from Michael Brown. He took a few touches to work past North Surry defenders, and he put it away for a three-goal advantage for the Hornets.

The second-half goal by Ahmedin Salcinovic was the most impressive of the night. Joshua Lynch passed the ball in from the left sideline about 30 yards from the goal. Salcinovic made a run toward the net and got a head on the ball. It took a bounce in the box and made it past Luna for the Hornets’ fourth goal of the night.

Salisbury was in control of the game practically from the start, and it limited North Surry to only a handful of scoring chances. When the ball made it to Hornets goalkeeper Arturo Ramirez, it was usually being played back by a Salisbury defender. Parrish said the Hornets strung together possession at times and other times they worked against themselves by going backward instead of moving forward.

The Greyhounds had one legitimate scoring chance in the second half. Victor Casas lined up to take a penalty kick with 11 minutes, 50 seconds left in the game after Salisbury was whistled for a foul in the box. Casas’ shot, however, sailed over the crossbar to keep North Surry off the board.

Salisbury also did a good job of bottling up Hector Zuvieta.

“I didn’t know a whole lot [about North Surry], so I did what scouting I could do, what the Internet allowed me to pull off,” Parrish said. “We know (Zuvieta) presented unique challenges. We knew we had to shut him down.”

Adam Houston: 704-797-4259; twitter.com/
AdamRHouston