Staff report

TYRO — A miserable Monday turned into a triumphant Tuesday for Salisbury’s boys soccer team.

Playing on the neutral pitch at West Davidson, the Hornets beat East Davidson 2-0 in tiebreaker match to determine the Central Carolina Conference’s top seed for the 2A state playoffs.

East Davidson had pounded the Hornets 4-0 on Monday, Salisbury’s shakiest outing of the season, to tie for the CCC championship with 11-1 records.

David Austin scored both Salisbury goals on assists from Sam Goodman.

“There just aren’t enough game balls to go around,” Salisbury coach Matt Parrish said. “So much changed from Monday night’s debacle that I can’t even express the difference. It was a Jekyll and Hyde turnaround of monumental proportions. We were composed, smart and worked together as a team. No bickering, finger pointing or dwelling on mistakes. Henry Austin and Goodman were fantastic, light years ahead of Monday. Hines Busby could barely walk after a 50-50 tackle left him hobbled, but he gutted out the entire second half. Alejandro Mercado and Steven Rivas played season-best matches. Through it all, though, the man of the match was Mohammed Jabateh. He was tasked with stopping East Davidson phenom Frankie Avalos Cortes, who was responsible for scoring or setting up all four of their goals on Monday night. It was a test he passed with flying colors, and on the biggest stage. All in all, it was just a big win. Big for our confidence, big going into the playoffs, and big for a (still) young team to realize what happens when they stick to a game plan and battle as a team.”

Now the Hornets (19-2-3) wait. East Davidson (13-9-1) also waits.

Brackets will be released by the NCHSAA on Thursday. The playoffs start on Saturday night. The Hornets will be at home.