Back in 2011, Georgia Southern men’s soccer head coach Kevin Kennedy decided it was time for a change.

The Eagles only scored 20 goals and won three games in 2010, so they made the switch to a high-risk, high-reward, 4-3-3 look.

It worked.

The Eagles (8-8-1, 4-3 Southern Conference in 2011) finished 10th in the nation in scoring and led the SoCon with 34 goals.

With five men (three forwards and two midfielders) on the attack, that left the defense that much more vulnerable.

"We led the conference in scoring, and I don’t know that Georgia Southern has ever led the conference in scoring in men’s soccer," said Kennedy. "When we can win it back in their half, it gives us a lot more chances to score. But, we get caught on the counter, too."

The biggest loss for the 2012 Eagles is Luigi Clendening, who led GSU in goals (13) and assists (5) as a senior in 2011, but four of the top five producers — Witt Carlisle, Hunter Norton, Ethan LaPan and Drew Ruggles — are back in the mix.

Former Statesboro Blue Devil Trent Doty returns to the defense after starting all 17 games on defense a year ago, along with Thomas Valikonis, who started 15 games.

Perhaps the biggest loss from that side of the field from 2011 was keeper Ryan Platt.

"He was great and that’s a big loss for us," said Kennedy. "We’ve got Neal Bates competing there as a junior and we’ve got a couple of new guys. Jack Falle is a transfer from UAB. We’ll see."

Falle, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound keeper, was recruited out of high school by Kennedy and transferred to GSU after a redshirt season at Alabama-Birmingham.

He’ll face his former team when the Eagles open the season on the road at UAB today at 4 p.m.

Kennedy has beefed up the non-conference slate this year. UAB is one of six teams on the Eagles’ schedule that made the NCAA tournament in 2011 and one of five with an RPI in the top 50 in Division I.

The SoCon has gotten multiple teams into the Division-I NCAA tournament via at-large bids — Furman last season and College of Charleston in 2010 — and Kennedy hopes a tough schedule will help get the Eagles into that conversation.

"Our goal is to win the conference tournament and go to the national tournament, but if that doesn’t happen, hopefully we’ll put ourselves in position to get an at-large bid," he said.

The non-conference slate includes trips to ACC opponents Wake Forest (Sept. 18) and North Carolina (Oct. 2).

As far as the SoCon goes, parity is evident. Look no farther than the preseason coaches poll, where the Eagles were picked to finish sixth, yet also received a first-place vote.

Furman may be the favorite again this season, but anything can, and does, happen in the tournament.

"Furman is the clear favorite," Kennedy said. "They return nine starters, with the 10th starter being the goalkeeper, and that will be an interesting transition for them. But they’re very explosive in scoring. Still, our conference is a tossup. Elon, as the sixth seed, won the conference tournament last year. That kind of tells you the parity there."