Woodsville's Adam Cataldo, left, congratulates teammate Alex Enderson on his goal early in the second half of their game against Portsmouth Christian in Woodsville, N.H., on Sept. 15, 2017. Portsmouth won, 4-2. (Valley News - Geoff Hansen) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Woodsville's Adam Cataldo, left, congratulates teammate Alex Enderson on his goal early in the second half of their game against Portsmouth Christian in Woodsville, N.H., on Sept. 15, 2017. Portsmouth won, 4-2. (Valley News - Geoff Hansen) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: Valley News photographs — Geoff Hansen

Woodsville — Last autumn, the Woodsville High boys soccer team employed its most prolific offensive player in a decade in Antonio Houde, a senior-year transfer from Londonderry (N.H.) High who joined the Engineers after previously suiting up for the NHIAA Division I Lancers along with the southern New Hampshire-based Timberwolves Soccer Club. The diminutive but speedy Houde’s 45 goals were tops in the Upper Valley and had Woodsville fans reminiscing about former scoring dynamo Dimitri Kapotis, who in the mid-2000s scored 136 career goals and led the Engineers to consecutive D-IV titles.

Now that Houde is a starting midfielder for NCAA D-III Rivier College, the Engineers’ remaining forwards are left adjusting to his absence — and they’re doing so with aplomb.

In part thanks to Houde’s urging, senior Adam Cataldo and sophomore Alex Enderson suited up for the Norwich-based Lightning Soccer Club last spring, and their skill development has been on display this season. The duo has combined for 21 goals and 13 assists through Woodsville’s first six games. They mirrored one another with 10 goals and six assists each through five before Enderson notched a goal and an assist on Friday in a 4-2 setback against unbeaten Portsmouth Christian.

The production has compensated for the loss of Houde, whose own dedication to the game elevated that of teammates, 41st-year Woodsville coach Mike Ackerman said.

“It was a nice surprise getting (Houde) last year. He was great for us not only because he could score every time he had the ball, but he was also a great kid and worked extremely hard,” Ackerman said. “It kind of picked the whole pace of the team up with how hard he played. I think a lot of the other guys learned a lot from him.”

Cataldo and Enderson both had 17 goals last year to complement Houde’s production on a team that won 14 games and reached the D-IV semifinals, bowing to eventual champ Epping. Good friends since elementary school despite being a grade apart — Cataldo is a senior and Enderson a junior — the pair spent the offseason devoted to returning as a formidable striker tandem. So far they’ve combined for 75 percent of the goals for Woodsville (4-2-0).

“I used to run east to west a lot and spend a lot of time battling for the ball,” said Cataldo, who led the Upper Valley with 24 assists a year ago. “Antonio showed me not only how to play more (vertically), but to be effective doing that by using both of your feet. It’s hard to do that, but it makes you that much more (of a scoring threat).”

Always the shiftier of the two, Enderson has also improved his footwork as well as his accuracy and range.

“I’d say I’m much better at getting my deep shots on target,” said Enderson. “I’d also say I’m a little better winning one-on-one battles.”

So confident is Ackerman in the abilities of Cataldo and Enderson that he changed the Engineers’ alignment from a three-forward set with Houde to two this season.

That has allowed Woodsville to employ four midfielders, led by junior Garrett Olsen (four goals, four assists). The rest of the team’s starting middies are young: freshmen Ethan Houston and Corey Bemis and sophomore Connor Maccini.

“It is an adjustment without Antonio, because last year I would get the ball in space and he would just take off toward the net so fast that, a lot of the time, it was easy to get him the ball,” said Cataldo. “This year, we’re relying more on young guys in the midfield (for transitional play). We really need those guys to step up as the season goes along.”

Devoid of a title since the Kapotis-led 2005 season, Woodsville has remained a perennial contender and reached the semis three of the last four seasons.

Woodsville knocked off rebuilding Epping on Aug. 31, 6-1, and cruised through its first five games until an offensive hiccup in a 1-0 double overtime defeat at rival Littleton last Tuesday. It was the Engineers’ first shutout loss since 2015, but Ackerman took the grit his team displayed as a positive sign.

“If we’re going to lose, we want to lose playing the way we played that day,” said Ackerman. “We went hard to the ball, all the way down to our keeper (senior Cooper Davidson).”

Woodsville showed more fight Friday against Portsmouth Christian, responding to an early 2-0 deficit with a pair of goals in a span of less than 30 seconds to forge a halftime tie. The Eagles (6-0) went ahead to stay midway through the second half.

The Engineers have designs on another deep playoff run — hoping to reach what would be their first title-game appearance in 12 years.

“It might sound far-fetched to have that goal this early in the season, but that’s where we want to be,” said Enderson. “With the progress we’ve been showing, I think we’re headed in that direction.”

Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.