Regardless of the sport in question, most coaches would love to have a superstar or two on their squad.

Men’s soccer coach Eric Nichols does not have that luxury and by the looks of it, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Nichols’ first offseason at the helm saw the graduation of the team’s two co-captains Jacob Lawrence and Hunter Van Houten, as well as the team’s leading scorer Cameron Hepple.

The Falcons relied heavily on Hepple’s goal output, as the Bahamas native accounted for nearly 50 percent of the Falcons scoring, despite only playing in 12 of the team’s 18 games.

To further demonstrate the Falcons’ heavy reliance on the graduating seniors, Lawrence and Hepple’s combined goal tally accounted for 16 or 17 of the team’s 21 total goals.

The challenge for Nichols and his team is to find a way to replace those goals without a proven goal scorer on the roster.

Freshman Ryan Comiskey, who scored 38 goals his senior season in high school, could prove to be an offensive weapon at some point in his Falcon career. However, asking him to take over the role of primary goal scorer as a true freshman is a tall order.

Nichols and his staff have seemingly found an answer to their scoring woes by taking a different approach to their offensive game this season. By sharing the scoring responsibilities and spreading the wealth offensively, the Falcons look to have a more balanced score sheet this season, instead of becoming over-reliant on one or two players like in the past.

“The gap between our top player and our weakest player is much smaller,” Nichols said. “We have a great deal of parity on this team with a number of guys who can step up and score goals.”

The foundation of this philosophy began in the Falcons’ training sessions well before the team played its first game, where Nichols had implemented a competitive approach.

“We challenge our guys every day to set out to be the best player in training that day,” Nichols said.

The approach allows each player to compete with his teammates on a daily basis, thus becoming better on game day.

Nichols has also come to the conclusion that his team has the most depth in the midfield. In order to assure he gets his most skilled players on the field, Nichols will employ a formation that allows him to employ five midfielders, instead of the normal three or four.

“With five midfielders, we can posses the ball much more,” Nichols said. “We can help the defense when the opposing team has the ball, and offensively, we can make runs from all over the field using our midfield.”

Nichols and his staff are confident that competition for spots within the team will lead to positive results on game day, regardless of who plays.

The Falcons have started the season with two consecutive draws, tying Appalachian State 0-0 and Davidson College 2-2 at the Davidson Classic last weekend.