AMHERST - The University of Massachusetts men's soccer team features an experienced defense, two battle-tested goalies and one of the best players in the country in Ben Arikian.

If the Minutemen can find a way to score some goals here and there, they might be pretty good.

But UMass scored only 15 goals in 17 games in its 7-7-3 season last year. Of those 15, graduated senior Mark DeSantis (four) had over a quarter of them. The Minutemen lost five games 1-0 and were shutout eight times.

So coach Sam Koch is looking for some offense when his team opens the season tonight at 7 p.m. at Boston University.

"Not being able to score goals last year was a big issue," said Koch, whose team was picked sixth in the Atlantic 10's preseason poll. "Our defense was one of the best defenses in the country. Our goals against average (0.77) was in the top 20, but there was something missing and that was goal scoring."

Koch has been tinkering with combinations up front throughout the preseason and will continue to do so into the regular season until he finds a formula that puts points on the board.

"We've made some adjustments. We have Bryant Craft, who has been playing up at the top, and Chris Roswess is a year older and understands what he wants to do," Koch said. "We have about six guys who can play up there. I think we're going to create a lot of scoring chances by hard work and putting teams under pressure. I think we have guys that will do that pretty well."

Freshmen Brett Canepa and Hellah Sidibe, a native of Mali, could both be in the mix to play up front.

"Hellah gives us a whole other level of energy. Brett Canepa is going to see a lot of playing time," Koch said. "We have a really solid new group. The freshmen have really raised the standard. Competition in practice is much higher. Everybody has to perform a bit better or the new guys are going to take their spots."

Whoever is up front will be on the receiving end of passes from Arikian. The senior midfielder is on the watch list for the Hermann Trophy, college soccer's national player of the year. The Long Island native has been the focus of opponents' attention since he was a sophomore. Koch was confident that the Minutemen's improved supporting cast would help take some of the pressure off his star player.

"For two years, (opponents have) been kicking the crap out of him. He's used to it now," Koch said. "The first year he adjusted because he had good guys still around him. Last year it was pretty clear, kick him and you really hurt us. I think we have some guys that are able to take the pressure off him now."

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.