Oriac Vila’s 68th minute strike was the difference as the Quinnipiac men’s soccer team took down Niagara University 1-0 in its home opener Sunday morning.

While Vila came off the bench to score his first goal of the season, the real headline of the match was how Quinnipiac was going to replace Eamon Whalen.

Head coach Eric Da Costa rolled out a new look attack this afternoon with an attacking four of Tomas Svecula, David Bercedo, Brage Aasen, and Alexander Krykjeedie, all first-years or sophomores.

“We are certainly a bit more dynamic going forward, with players who are more individually gifted than in the past,” Da Costa said in his post-game press conference.

The front four moved fluidly throughout their positions, with someone constantly making an attacking run. This opened up more spaces in the final third for the team’s midfielders to make an impact.

“We have players that want to be a part of the attack, which makes us more multidimensional rather than one-dimensional,” Da Costa said.

This new play style was certainly on show for the goal, with Paulo Soares immediately picking up the ball in midfield and distributing it forward to Aasen, who found Vila to tuck the ball in the back of the net.

The sophomore transfer from Ohio Valley, Bercedo, was key to this new play style as well with his attacking runs and pressing causing many problems for the Niagara defense. He pretty much covered every blade of grass in the final third, which opened space for other attacking players.

“David makes a team better, and he’s already made us better. I think he’ll continue to grow and have a bigger impact than he’s already had, but his impact is already being felt,” Da Costa said.

Overall, this game showed us that there is not a true replacement for  Whelan, but rather multiple.

“Now I don’t think you can prepare for one guy, and I think it makes it more difficult to figure out how to stop us,” Da Costa said.

The Bobcats now turn their attention to Thursday when they will face off against Siena at 2:30 p.m., coached by Quinnipiac assistant coach and player, Graciano Brito.