EAST PROVIDENCE — Year 2 for the East Providence High School boys' soccer program with former Townie standout Tim Calouro at the helm begins in earnest this week as the locals seek to once again be a part of the Division I state championship tournament in 2024.

Calouro's first year guiding the Townies saw them finish with a 7-8-1 overall record in the state's top tier. East Providence stunned Central with a late rally to win their preliminary round outing. The locals, though, were then humbled by eventual league champion LaSalle in the quarterfinals, suffering an eight-goal loss.

East Providence returns the bulk of its starting 11 from last year. One new regular is junior Kyle Desrosiers, who takes over the Townies' goalie chores. Calouro said the 6-foot-2, 194-pound keeper has been "amazing" to date in the preseason. The coach calls him an "athlete...If the ball is hit into his general area, he's not scared of going after it."

In front of Desrosiers in EP's basic 4-4-2 set are three returning starters in center backs Tristan Nunes, a junior, and senior Brian Rutkowski along with senior right back Logan Calouro. The left back will be manned by both senior Kendrick Costa and junior Raphael Ferreira.

"I'm trying to beef up our defense," Calouro said of his backline. "One thing I learned from my first year is in this division you can't allow as many goals as we did last season. If you don't allow so many goals, you can stay in more games. Last year, I gambled too much, tried to outscore teams. This year I want to be more defensive, and those guys can do that."

The midfield includes sophomore Nigel Fernandes and junior Erick Jimenez playing outside left, senior Donovan Dos Reis and classmate Edward Barbosa central with senior Jordan Rodrigues on the right. Fernandes is new to the team, having played last year in the MLS Next youth development program. Dos Reis returns to the Townies also from MLS Next.

"This year different from last year is we need to do a better job of getting up and down field faster rate. I think with those guys in the middle we'll be able to do that," Calouro said.

Senior and leading returning scorer Sam Jackson along with classmate Marcio Cardoso make up the Townies' attacking pair at the start of the season. Jackson potted nine goals last fall while Cardoso, though talented, was still a bit too inexperienced, according to Calouro, to finish at a consistent rate a year ago.

"Marcio is a great athlete, who could run and jump. We put him out on the field last year when we was raw, his soccer sense was still raw. But he's worked hard in the offseason, Everything is really coming together for him," Calouro added. "With Sam, once he gets going, gets cooking, he can make a special sauce out there."

The rest of the varsity roster and those expected to contribute this fall include junior right back Dominic Tavares along with sophomores Joel Fortes (goal), Genard Lee (center mid) and Babucarr Najai (center mid).

"Right now we're playing a 4-4-2 to keep it simple. As the season progresses we'll see where we can kind of advance the guys. We're trying not to complicate things too early, but play with some variations," Calouro explained. "I've really just been seeing who can play what spot, who can help us out in the best place possible. One thing that nice about this year as opposed to last year is that I think we're a deeper team."

That depth, however, took a bit of a hit just a few days before the start of the year when junior Alex Montille, who already missed his sophomore campaign with a knee ailment, suffered another season-ending injury.

"If we play like we're capable, we should be able to compete. If we can get locked in, we should be OK," added Calouro, who this year is assisted by Asa Sohn. Sohn replaces former EPHS standout Nathan Bento. Sohn was a member of Classical teams that won two Division II titles in the mid-2010s and next played at the University of Rhode Island. He is also currently a coach in the New England Revolution youth academy.

Of consequence as well for EPHS and all other teams, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League has instituted a new scheduling format, which allows schools to pick between 20 and 50 percent of their opponents with the league assigning the rest. EPHS, across all sports, picked the 80-20 option.

Also of the note, teams do not necessarily have to play all of the other sides within their own division during the regular season.

Of the 14 other teams in the league, only North Smithfied is not on EP's schedule and the Townies face LaSalle, Bishop Hendricken and Cumberland twice each.

Division I now includes the following schools: North Smithfield, Barrington, Bishop Hendricken, Central Falls, Central, Classical, Cranston West, Cumberland, LaSalle, Moses Brown, North Kingstown, Portsmouth, South Kingstown, Tolman.

The changes, as well, include for the first time ever regular season contests against both teams from outside of their own division and out-of-state competitors that impact playoff qualification. Teams will be awarded points for their wins based on a strength of opposition measure akin to the RPI/Ratings Percentage Index used at the collegiate level.

Teams will receive the following points for victories from in and out of state matches: Division I 10; Division II 6, Division III 3.6, Division IV 2.2. And in general, the RIIL considers the following enrollments to determine the level of competition: 0-500 students, D-IV; 501-1,000 D-III; 1,001-1,500; D-II; 1,501-plus, D-I. In soccer, the top nine of the 12 teams, points-wise, qualify for the state championship playoffs.

The Townies play an 18-game regular season slate. Two of those games are against sides outside the league and both came to start their schedule: September 3 against Division III Providence Country Day (EP beat the neighboring Knights 2-0) and September 5 against Smithfield at home.

"I'm curious to see how we do with the schedule we have. We're just playing juggernauts all year long," Calouro said. "We play LaSalle twice, Hendricken twice and Cumberland twice. Then we play Moses Brown, Tolman, South Kingstown, North Kingstown. If we can trade wins with the teams we play two times, I think we have a chance. We just have to avoid the bottom three. I think we can be mid-table.

"If we make the playoffs and are healthy after playing this schedule, I'll be happy. If we can get one more win than we did last year, I'll be very happy."