Education
Salem attended Saint Vincent – Saint Mary High School, where he was named 1st Team All-Tri County as a sophomore and junior and 1st Team All-District as a junior. He played five seasons of club soccer for the Cleveland United club team, leading them team to a United States Regional Club runner-up finish and to a Northern Ohio Cup title. He played five years of college soccer at the, redshirting his freshman year.
He received NSCAA/adidas National Collegiate Athletic Association All-Midwest First Team accolades as a junior in 2008, as well as 1st Team All-Conference United States of America, Conference United States of America All-Tournament Team, collegesoccernews.com"s National Team of the Week, Conference United States of America All-Academic Honoree, and University of Tulsa"s Student Athlete of the Month.
Joe was selected to the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list prior to his senior season, including Preseason Conference United States of America 1st Team honors. During his time at Tulsa, the Golden Hurricane won 3 consecutive Conference United States of America Regular Season and Tournament Championships and went to 3 National Collegiate Athletic Association tournaments, advancing to the Elite 8 in 2009.
During his college years Salem also played with Des Moines Menace in the USL Premier Development League.
Joe was selected 1st Team All-Central Conference in 2008 and helped lead the team to the 2009 Heartland Conference Championship and advance to the Elite 8.