After a controversial no-call midway through the second half, Northwestern coach Kelly Bleam had the right attitude about the situation and fortunately, so did her team.

The Tigers went undaunted and rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit to score two goals in the game’s final 10 minutes for a 2-1 win over Salisbury on Tuesday.

“They did not let the no-call deflate them,” said Bleam of her team’s efforts. “The referees and their calls are part of the game. They’re part of the unlucky part of the game sometimes, and they’re part of the lucky part of the game sometimes.”

The controversy came nearly midway through the half, when Kylie Zentz came down the middle on a breakaway and was met by Salisbury goalkeeper Lily Schimeneck and the two collided. There was no call on the play, and after a lengthy discussion between the referee and Bleam, Northwestern assistant coach Jordan Smith was given a yellow card for continuing to argue the call by the official.

Northwestern (3-0) did get a call later in the half that resulted in a direct kick that Gracie Meyers put just over the crossbar. Another penalty and yellow card on Kerry Seller gave the Tigers a direct kick with 9:08 left in regulation, and Bailey Groff put it into the top of the net to tie the game 1-1.

Just 30 seconds later, Kayla Bardonner also went to the top of the net with a shot and put it past the outstretched arm of Schimeneck for what would be the game-winning goal.

“My teammate, Kylie Zentz, tried to get a through-ball and it ricocheted off of a defender. I managed to get to the ball, and I lofted it into the back of the net,” explained Bardonner, who has high hopes for the team this season. “So far, we look really good. I’m really excited to see what the season is going to hold for us. We haven’t lost a game yet, so it looks really good for the future.”

Northwestern finished with 15 shots on goal compared to just one for the Falcons, who fell to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the Colonial League.

“I’m really pleased that the efforts that my team put in did not go without reward, because truly, we had so many opportunities,” said Bleam. “We had a lot of shots on goal, so I couldn’t be happier for one of those to finally go in to tie things up. Then we got that second goal, which was just a terrific culmination of play by four or five different players.”

DIGGIN’ THE TURF ... The Northwestern schedule has them starting the season with four straight home games on the new artificial turf at Tiger Stadium. They’ve won the first three games of that stretch, and have outscored their opponents 9-3. Bleam also believes that being able to play on turf under the lights added a playoff atmosphere to the game with Salisbury.

“It definitely had quite an intensity to it,” said Bleam. “It’s always a great game with Salisbury. Two quality teams on the field together and certainly, when it’s under the lights, it just brings a different intensity to the environment.”

OOPS ... Salisbury’s only goal of the game came with 4:02 left in the first half. The ball inadvertently bounced off a Northwestern defender and trickled into the goal.

LOSE ONE, GAIN TWO ... While Northwestern lost midfielder Maggie Motolese to graduation, they added two younger sisters to this year’s roster. Sophia and Olivia Motolese – both sophomores – saw quality minutes against Salisbury. Sophia launched a shot from 30-yards out early in the second half and saw it bounce off the far post and carom back onto the playing field.