Despite being nowhere near the national polls in the preseason, Penn State men’s soccer has huffed and puffed to No. 12 in the country with one week left until the NCAA Tournament.

The Nittany Lions (12-2-3, 6-1-1 Big Ten), under second-year head coach Jeff Cook, have looked nothing like the side that limped to a sixth-place finish in the Big Ten last year. While the defensive line has been a dominant force, the offensive pieces Cook has at his disposal may be the reason Penn State is still playing in mid-November.

Only Indiana, which ranks No. 8 in the nation, has more goals scored in conference play than the Nittany Lions, while the two teams are tied on overall goals (36). Indiana has played one more game than the underdogs from Happy Valley.

One year removed from a side that lacked a player scoring more than three goals, Liam Butts currently leads the team with nine tallies to his name. It’s far from a one-man show, though, as captain Aaron Molloy has eight goals and Christian Sload has found the back of the net five times so far in 2019.

Most importantly, the team’s level and quality hardly drop once the marquee players leave the field.

“The depth that we had really showed in the regular season. It’ll be even more important once we hit tournament time and the games become more intense,” winger Seth Kuhn said. “Having guys being able to come in and give [the starters] a breather is going to be very important.”

Offensively, Josh Dabora and Andrew Privett have gotten the minutes while Sload and Butts are on the bench. Dabora showed his potential by scoring the capper against Wisconsin in the first round of the playoffs. The two reserves have often injected the team with newfound energy, and they’ve been excellent at killing games off while their teammates needed rest.

“Josh sealed that game with a great finish,” Cook said after last Sunday’s win. “He’s had some really good goals in some really important moments.”

While finding playing time hard to come by may make most players less interested in the team’s success, Dabora, Privett, and the rest of the non-starters are content with their placement within the group as long as the team is benefitting.

“Everybody here accepts their role and is happy with their role,” Kuhn said.

Penn State’s unity has been apparent for any spectator this season, and Cook has made an effort to stress the team-first mentality.

“It doesn’t matter how long you are on the field. What counts is how you contribute to Penn State,” Cook said. “We’ve got a lot of good players and we need them all to be playing at their very best at this point in the year.”

Tactically, the starters haven’t had to modify their play too much once Dabora and Privett enter the match. The reserves have modeled their games after Butts and Sload, which makes for a smoother transition when personnel turns over midway through a match.

“Dabora doesn’t have the speed that Sload has, but he has other qualities that Christian doesn’t have,” Kuhn said. “You kind of have to adjust a little on the fly, but in general they all kind of emulate the same spots and do the same things. We all trust them.”

Privett and Dabora have combined for four goals total in 2019; while their stats aren’t Big Ten First Team caliber, the whole program believes in what they can produce in big moments.

“Even though [Dabora and Privett] aren’t starting, they are good enough to be starting on multiple NCAA teams that are competing for the tournament,” defender Will Campbell said. “We trust whoever comes on the field, we know they will get the job done.”