With the goal of taking his side from the bottom of the Western Conference in 2016 to the USL Cup Playoffs this season, new Tulsa Roughnecks FC Head Coach Dave Vaudreuil has a blueprint for how he’s going to accomplish the feat.

It also happens to be the same blueprint that helped the Rochester Rhinos claim the 2015 USL Cup.

A former teammate of Rhinos Head Coach Bob Lilley when the two played indoor soccer for the Harrisburg Heat more than 20 years ago, and friend ever since, Vaudreuil’s admiration for what Lilley has accomplished in the head-coaching ranks has influenced his outlook as he goes into his first season with the Roughnecks.

“I think he’s been the standard-bearer in this league,” Vaudreuil told the Roughnecks’ YouTube channel of Lilley. “When Rochester won this league going almost undefeated for 80 percent of the season they gave up 16 goals in 30 games, an amazing stat that you just don’t see very often.

“If we can get goals against in the 25 to 28 goals against range, I think that pretty much guarantees us a spot in the playoffs, and makes us competitive where we can beat anyone in the league and make a run at the playoffs.”

Vaudreuil’s thinking certainly bears out. The top three teams in the USL’s Western Conference standings last season were also the only three in the conference to concede fewer than 30 goals in the regular season. In comparison, the Roughnecks’ leakiness at the back led to their lowly final position.