As Salem boys soccer approaches the finish of the regular season, the Blue Devils need to work on just that – finishing.

After producing a 6-1-0 start in Class L play, the Blue Devils suffered a three-game losing skid that included losses to three of the top five teams in the standings.

On Friday, Oct. 2, Salem lost, 2-1, to 7-1-2 Manchester Memorial, and head coach Tony Karibian said the reason was clear.

“It’s been all about finishing,” said Karibian. “We seem to want to score, but when we get in a position to do so, we don’t finish and take advantage of it. It’s not that we can’t do it, but we need to put the ball in the net.”

The Blue Devils jumped to an early advantage thanks to a Brad Hosey goal, assisted by Joao Vitor, about six minutes into the contest.

But Memorial struck back late in the half with a goal of its own, and the game entered the intermission knotted at 1-1 despite heavy pressure from Salem in the closing minutes.

With four minutes remaining until halftime, the Blue Devils entered the box, and several Salem attackers had a chance to score on a loose ball five feet from the goal line. However, an SHS shot hit the post, and Memorial escaped unscathed.

Twenty-one minutes into the second half, Peguy Ngatcha found an open lower-left side of the goal past Salem goalkeeper Taylor Morin to take the lead.

Though Salem earned a corner kick late in the game, the Blue Devils were unable to respond with the equalizer. All four of Salem’s losses have come against playoffbound teams, and only one has come by more than a single tally.

The Blue Devils’ first loss of the year was to Manchester Central by a 3-2 margin, followed by back-to-back victories before the three-game losing streak.

In recent years the locals have been a sub-.500 team, but a strong corps of upperclassmen has Karibian optimistic his team can make a deep run in the state tournament. Though the mentor said he hopes his group can secure at least one home playoff game, he also knows that task became increasingly difficult following its recent struggles.

“In years past we did well to lose (by one goal),” said Karibian. “Now we should be winning those games. We know we can win. We’re just making our road in the playoffs a bit harder.”