Senior midfielder Brendan Dexter is a third-year starter for La Salle Prep.

A balanced attack has made La Salle Prep’s boys soccer team more potent than ever this season.

The Falcons, who averaged 1.8 goals per game in making runs to the 5A semifinals the last two seasons, are averaging 2.7 goals in opening this season 6-0-1.

In Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Glencoe, La Salle Prep got goals from four different players in juniors Luke Strange, Karter Cook and Liam Rinehart and sophomore Kainoa Taylor.

“We’ve noticed there’s a lot more guys that are contributing,” said coach Seth Altshuler, whose team is ranked third in the OSAAtoday 5A coaches poll. “We’re getting goals from a lot of different places.”

Against Glencoe, the Falcons showed their diverse attack despite missing three starters, including standout senior midfielder Brendan Dexter.

“In the high school game, with injuries and how tough the season can be, you need to be able to have some depth,” Altshuler said. “This team has a lot of it. We’ve been happy with the way guys have stepped up.”

Taylor and Strange have led the push up front with six and five goals, respectively. Strange is a third-year starter and Taylor has “turned out to be a huge asset” after moving up from the JV team, according to Altshuler.

“He’s got an incredible work rate, and he learns quickly,” Altshuler said. “He’s getting better as the season goes on. They’re both really dangerous. They play well together. They have different skillsets. But they’re a handful.”

The team brought back seven starters from last year’s team, which lost on penalty kicks in the semifinals for the second year in a row. Only two starters are seniors: Dexter and defender Justin North.

Dexter is in his third season as a starter.

“For my money, he’s one of the best players in the state,” Altshuler said. “Technical ability, defensive work rate, he’s great in the air – he’s the most well-rounded player we have. He’s been our horse for years. He’s really something to watch.”

Altshuler said his team “ran out of gas’ in the semifinals against Wilsonville in 2016 but was “much more prepared” in last year’s final four against Woodburn. Still, the semifinal hurdle remains for the Falcons.

“We haven’t really dwelled on it,” Altshuler said. “It’s just kind of something we put in the past and we like where we’re going. With the first one, it was like, ‘OK, we can do this.’ The second one, we were proving ourselves. And now we feel like we’re always going to be in the mix.”

Against other 5A top 10 teams this season, La Salle Prep defeated No. 5 Central 4-2 and No. 6 Hood River Valley 3-0 and tied No. 2 Corvallis 3-3. The Falcons are 4-0 against 6A teams.

La Salle Prep opens Northwest Oregon Conference play Tuesday at No. 4 Hillsboro, the two-time reigning conference champion. The Falcons lost to Hillsboro 2-1 last year, their only conference defeat in the last two seasons.