Salem City opened up their season with a trip to Ting Park in Holly Springs, North Carolina, to face off against Wake FC. 

The first half of the game was fairly mellow, while Salem controlled possession for the majority of the half and created multiple shots on goal. Despite the pressure they were able to put on the two teams went into their respective locker rooms tied at 0. Wake goalkeeper William Whitman played a huge part, accumulating a total of seven saves. 

While the match was still tied, head coach William Lennie was still pleased with his squad’s performance and took some positives from it before taking the pitch again for the second half.

“The lads performed unbelievable in the first half. We created lots of chances, for us it was just about being more clinical in front of the goal,” Lennie said.

Coming out of the locker rooms was when Salem opened the floodgates, scoring four unanswered goals. The first one did not come until the 65th minute, when striker Cameron Letterlough scored to put Salem up 1-0.

The next three goals all came within a 15-minute span. It continued in the 73rd minute when winger Linus Musielak added to Salem’s lead. Shortly after, Salem added two more goals, one coming from left winger João Victor Catafesta in the 86th minute, and two minutes later center midfielder Amir Simpson put the final touches on the match as Salem walked out of the stadium with a 4-0 win to start the season 1-0-0.

The team’s next match will be against Appalachian FC on Saturday, May 23 at 7 p.m. This will also be the debut of their new home venue, Douglass M. Crater on the campus of R.J. Reynolds High School.