Tied for second in the Southeastern Conference with eight shutouts this season, its little secret that defense has been vital to the No. 13 Georgia soccer team this season.

The real story behind the Bulldogs success however, who currently sit at 10-1-1, tied for the best 12-game mark in program history, may be what the team is doing in the offensive third of the field.

With seven regular season games remaining, the Bulldogs have scored 27 goals, just one shy of the 28 goals the Dogs netted all of last season.

“Everyone’s had more of an attacking mentality,” said junior midfielder Marah Falle. “Not that we ever tried to just sit in, but everyone just wants to get up and wants to get crosses and shots off.”

It’s clear that the Bulldogs have had little trouble scoring, and scoring often. And as is the case in most sports, more goals or points usually equals more wins. In who is scoring these goals however, may lie the real secret behind the Bulldogs offensive production.

10 different Bulldogs have found the back of the net thus far, compared to 11 different goalscorers all of last season.

“The idea that it’s spread out and there are a lot of people scoring goals, it’s a true credit to the fact that a team can’t key on one player, a team can’t key on a second player or even a third player. You’ve got to worry about the entire offensive unit, including our outside backs, including our center backs,” said assistant coach Steve Nugent. “You can’t just say, ‘Well, we can close down Carrie Patterson and the University of Georgia’s not going to score a goal’. We’re going to find a way to score from different positions.”

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The Bulldogs have also benefitted from a very deep roster and tremendous production from players coming off the bench. Excluding goalkeeper Michelle Betos, on average 19 different Bulldog players will see playing time in any given match.

“We just have so much depth this year on our team,” said senior defender Natalie Farley. “We’re constantly rotating people in and out and I think that’s a really good thing just to keep fresh legs out there so it gives everybody an opportunity to score at a different time.”

Farley herself is perhaps the best testament to the depth of this squad.

When standout sophomore defender Bailey Powell went down with a hip injury in a game against Georgia State, Sept. 11, Farley was inserted to shore up the Georgia back line.

In the six games since, the Bulldogs have gone 5-1-0, recording shutouts in their last three SEC road outings for the first time in school history. Farley scored Georgia’s first goal last Sunday in the team’s 3-0 victory at Vanderbilt, and on Wednesday was named Top Drawer Soccer’s National Player of the Week.

The squad will need to be firing on all cylinders again this weekend, as the Bulldogs welcome a pair of SEC foes to the UGA Soccer Stadium for their first home matches in nearly a month. Tonight, the Bulldogs take on No. 24 Ole Miss (8-3-0, 2-1-0 SEC) at 7, in a match to be aired on Fox Sports South. Sunday, the Bulldogs have a 2 p.m. date with Mississipi State (8-2-2, 0-2-2 SEC) that will air on CSS.