Salisbury discovered something that other teams have come across.

The Falcons were able to contain Cole Mertz, but that left other very capable players to do damage.

Mertz did get a goal eventually, but Northwestern rolled to a 3-1 win at Tiger Stadium in Wednesday night’s District 11 2A quarterfinal game.

Good things happen when Logan Shurr hangs out around the goal.

On Saturday, the junior made a defensive save in Northwestern’s 2-1 win over Southern Lehigh to take gold medals in the Colonial League finals.

This time around, Shurr was in his usual spot when Mertz sent a free kick into the area and Shurr was able to poke it past goalie Julian Makhoul for a 1-0 lead.

“We had a really nice opportunity on the free kick,” said Shurr. “I knew a lot of our free kicks end up at the back post. I just tried to lose my man with a quick little move, and I got around him and it was easy just tapping in the great ball from Cole.”

Even with multiple players around him, Mertz got an early shot off in the second half but put it just wide of the goal.

Shortly after that, Salisbury had an opportunity as Daziel Galindo broke away from a pair of defenders and put a shot to the far side of the net, but it rolled just in front of the post and over the end line.

With frustration starting to set in a little for both teams, the intensity rose and so did the yellow cards. Harrison Stopper was given a card for a flagrant foul on Zach Masenheimer with 28:41 to play.

Before his stint on the sidelines was even over, Mertz was given a yellow for disputing a call.

The referee explained to Tiger head coach Nate Hunsicker that he had warned Mertz earlier about arguing and gave him the card.

The second goal came from the Tigers being opportunistic.

Makhoul went out of the goal to make a play on a ball that was rolling in the box. What should have been a routine play was anything.

Makhoul realized the ball was just outside of the box and he illegally used his hands to make the play.

On the reset Masenheimer didn’t wait to get anything set, deciding instead to put the ball right back into play. He quickly found Jack Bissell in just the right spot to put Northwestern up 2-0 as the second half moved toward its midpoint.

“We knew they were going to play us hard,” said Bissell. “So we knew we had to come out aggressive and match the energy, so getting the second goal gave us more confidence and relaxed us a little.

“We thought they were going to try to just run through us, but they weren’t quite as physical.”

Mertz was finally able to shed a defender and fired a shot that Makhoul seemed to have handled but the ball went off of his hands and rolled into the net to put Northwestern up 3-0 with just 6:30 left to play.

Salisbury found a goal when Soren Ruiz fired a shot that got past goalie Dean Carl to make it 3-1.

The goal was the last gasp for Salisbury, which saw its season under first-year head coach Jonathan Ruiz end.

It was the third time that the Tigers downed the Falcons this season. They beat them 5-2 during the regular season before eliminating them in the quarterfinals of both the Colonial League and District 11 playoffs.

ANOTHER THIRD TIMER ... After dispatching Salisbury three times, Northwestern will now face Notre Dame of Green Pond (11-5-4), another team that it has already beaten twice. Notre Dame edged Pen Argyl 1-0 in Wednesday’s quarterfinal round. The Tigers beat the Crusaders 2-0 during the regular season before beating them 3-1 in the league semifinals. The two teams will play their district semifinal game next Tuesday with the time and location to be announced.

Northwestern 3, Salisbury 1

Salisbury 0 1 - 1

Northwestern 1 2 - 3

Goals: Salisbury - Ruiz 1; Northwestern - Shurr 1, Bissell 1, Mertz 1; Saves: Salisbury - Makhoul 6; Northwestern - Carl 1.

Records: Salisbury (9-9-2); Northwestern (19-1-2).