Goal scorers get the ink.

But it’s the forgotten souls on defense who usually determine the winner on the high school soccer pitch — especially in the boys game where one mistake in the back could result in a decisive score.

Defenders are the guys who never see their name in the paper. They are the guys who prevent goals — perhaps even more than the keepers. If they do their jobs right, they can also boost a team’s offensive output.

“I’ll always choose a strong defense,” said Grove City boys soccer coach Ron Churchill, who watched his defense stonewall teams to the tune of 13 shutouts last season. “If I can keep you out of our goal, my forwards are eventually going to score.”

Churchill is so adamant about the importance of defense that he moved his goalkeeper, Ben Lilly, to sweeper this season.

Last year, Lilly was thrust into the mouth of the goal because of a concussion suffered by Jed Grimm. All he did was help the Eagles to those 13 shutouts.

“Grimm has picked up his game quite a bit,” Churchill said. “Lilly is so good on defense. We had to move him.”

Seneca Valley coach George Williams had quite a defense last season, too.

The Raiders gave up just 13 goals in 21 games in 2011, but lost a few key members of that unit to graduation.

They do have a slew of seniors returning in the back, including Liam Jackson, Brandon White, Brock Wagner, Colter Cekalla, Brad Hart and Sean Edwards.

“Defense is very important. Coaches say that because it is true,” Williams said.

The game of soccer has changed at all levels over the years.

The changes have made what teams do on defense even more pivotal.

“Old-school man-to-man where you identified the top scorer and ‘marked’ him is going away,” Williams said. “It has changed at the top levels down to college and high school. There’s a lot more zone and defenders need to know when to come up, when to switch.

“The way the game is played now,” Williams added, “you need a lot of discipline, teamwork and coordination.”

At Karns City, though, defense is important, but so is filling up the opposition’s net.

The Gremlins scored a plethora of goals last season on the way to the PIAA Class quarterfinals.

The defense wasn’t too shabby, either.

“Conventional wisdom would say you want a superior defense,” Parker said. “We kind of Americanize the game. We like to score a lot of goals.”