Dayton O'Brien, Andy Metcalf and Marcus McCarty, attackers for University of Memphis men's soccer team ,are like leaks in a dam.
Every time opposing defenses plug one hole, the other two get stronger until the dam breaks and goals flood the scoreboard.
Thus far, Memphis has outscored opponents 20 to 3. And twelve of those goals have come from that trio of attackers.
Winning becomes even harder for other teams as only one of the four teams Memphis has scored a goal. And that was then 23rd ranked Oral Roberts.
O'Brien, Metcalf and McCarty have led Memphis to a national ranking of 23 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, the title of current Conference USA and an NCAA tournament berth last year.
The three are already into double-digit points (two for a goal, one for an assist) and may challenge records toward the end of the year.
"All three of us can score, and it's hard to stop all of us," said McCarty a sophomore. "If you stop one, the other two are going to have a good game."
Teams are finding it impossible to stop two, much less all three.
In all four games at least two of the three have tallied points in some way.
Head coach Richie Grant said Memphis has always had a strong attack. He mentioned his 2000 team, led by Sean Fraser, Gareth O'Sullivan and Lars Thorstensen, scored 59 goals, the most ever in a season by Memphis.
But unlike that team, O'Brien, Metcalf and McCarty have arguably one of the best defenses in the country to set them up.
The defense has allowed only 12 shots on goal in four games, which translates to less than two per 45-minute half.
Metcalf is helped the most. Defenders can loft the ball over the initial defense of their opponents to Metcalf, who has elite speed. The passes lead to lots of shots on goal. Metcalf has a team leading 10 shots on goal. That is only two behind that of Memphis' opponents.
Like Metcalf, the other two also bring something unique to the team, making it harder to contain all three.
Grant qualified O'Brien as technical and a leader and McCarty as composed and strong.
Although each brings something different to the field, they share interests off the field as well.
The three play mini basketball together, hang out and spend time playing a new passion - Yahtzee.
"Andy has the top score right now," McCarty said.
McCarty has the potential to become the leader of the Memphis team, according to Grant. And, with players like O'Brien and Metcalf to learn from, he'll get an excellent education.
"They've taught him standards of the program and the qualities it takes to be successful," Grant said.
According to Grant, the standards were set by the team's seniors.
"Gary Connelly, Stephen Cooling and Cormac McArdle - all the seniors - have worked extremely hard to get this program where it is."
The program is gearing up for one of the biggest games of the season against No. 15 Creighton at their 2-year-old facility, which attracts thousands of fans per game.
Creighton's coach made the trip to Memphis to see the Tigers in their 7-0 win against Alabama A&M Tuesday.
Scoring seven goals and surrendering none may signify success, but according to Metcalf, the first half in the game against A&M was marred by mental errors. However, in the second half, Memphis put six goals past A&M goalies Marcus Johnson and Andrew Jjombwe.
As captain of the Memphis squad, O'Brien knows when the credit needs to go to the team.
When asked if he would have the same success on a different team without the other scoring threats, he answered, "Absolutely not, the other ten players are vital to the team. The players we have here bring a whole new level to the team."
