Coach Chris Feifs and offensive coordinator Jake Bernhardt aimed to do something this season their players at Vermont were unlikely to have any arguments with: Take more shots.

The Catamounts (4-2, 4-0 America East) have delivered, not just getting off to their best conference start ever but also leading the country in shots per game with 52.5. Only two other Division I teams average more than 50 a game — North Carolina (52.1) and Denver (50.8).

A year ago, Vermont averaged 35 shots while going 3-1.

“We spent a lot of time this fall trying to find other ways to score goals and other ways to put pressure on defenses, including just taking more shots,” Feifs said. “We’re encouraging our guys to shoot more. Obviously, we want to work for great shots, and we want to get to areas of the field where we can get off great shots, but it comes with having more balance and options on offense to spread the defense.”

Most of Vermont’s offensive pieces were already in place coming into the season. Thomas McConvey had seven goals and eight assists in four games last season, and both David Closterman and Liam Limoges were starters.

All three are among the five Catamounts who already have 10 goals, with McConvey delivering a team-high 18 from the midfield. But sophomore midfielder JJ Levandowski (10 goals, five assists) is enjoying a breakout year, and Middlebury transfer Michael McCormack (17 goals, six assists) has solidified the attack.

“I think the collective mentality is to find the mismatches and create offense by drawing slides and getting them to rotate and moving the ball,” Feifs said. “We don’t want to let the ball die in our sticks. Coach B is very big on the ball not dying in sticks — I believe he has a four-second rule with these guys where we want to share the ball. I think that lends itself to more contributors and everybody feeling more invested in the offense.”

While this has the potential to be Vermont’s best team, it isn’t an out-of-nowhere program. The Catamounts went 12-4 in 2018 and followed it up with a solid 8-7 showing, making the America East title game both seasons.

Before the pandemic, it wouldn’t have come as a surprise if Vermont had reached its first NCAA tournament in 2020 in a wide-open America East. This year has already featured the program’s first victory at Albany, and the Catamounts have managed to win the last two weeks despite enjoying limited practice time because of inconclusive virus tests.

One thing’s for sure: The Catamounts plan to shoot their shots — a lot — in the second half of the season, including Saturday’s visit to UMBC.

“That’s Coach Bernhardt,” Feifs said. “He does a phenomenal job with the offense. He wants to coach them like a PLL team. He wants to hand the keys of the car to the offense on game days and let them do their job. That’s why we work really hard during the week at practice, so the players can go out and be players and have fun with it and not feel like they’re robots or a [in] a chess match. They’re out there to score goals, and you can’t score without shooting.”