After a tough 5-1 defeat against Appalachian FC last weekend, Salem bounced back in a huge way Tuesday night in a South Atlantic Division match with Tobacco Road FC at Cohan Fields on the beautiful campus of Duke University. 

Salem was without Tate Lorentz and Carlos Santamaria had prior commitments to Drip FC (a team in the TST event in Cary, NC), Sean Bohan with a fractured ankle, and João Victor Catafesta who served a one-game suspension following a red card against Appalachian FC. Even with those absences, Salem welcomed several players back including Guilherme Fontes.

The game was scoreless for the majority of the first half with both teams having several shots on goal. The breakthrough came in the 33rd minute with Cameron Letterlough putting one in the back of the net from 18 yards out.

“We had a lot of chances, we were just waiting for that first goal. We knew it was gonna come and once it came it gave us the momentum to control the game,” Letterlough said.

Salem kept their foot on the gas in the second half. Letterlough continued his masterclass of a game in the 53rd minute when he netted another goal, heading in a cross to the bottom left corner. With that goal Letterlough now has three goals in two appearances this season.

Despite good pressure from Salem, Tobacco Road refused to go down without a fight. Five minutes later in the 58th minute, they managed to take advantage of a long ball over Salem’s back line, cutting their deficit in half to make the score 2-1.

Fontes already made an impact for this Salem squad in his first game back as he iced the game in the 88th minute scoring off a corner kick opportunity. 

“Guilherme is a special player, there’s a reason he’s been here year after year. Gui is an  unbelievable character and we knew coming into today he would have a role to play,” head coach William Lennie said.

With this 3-1 victory Salem is now fourth in their division standings with an overall record of 2-1-0 with six points in the team’s first three games. Salem will be back in action at M. Douglass Crater this Saturday, May 30 at 7 p.m. against the Charlotte Eagles.