By ADAM SHINDER

For the Express

BROADALBIN — There’s a simple truth that each and every one of the Broadalbin-Perth boys soccer team’s opponents has had to reckon with at some point this year.

Sooner or later, Dominic Kwiatkowski is going to put one — or several — in the back of the net.

B-P’s star forward has scored with remarkable ease and efficiency so far during his senior year. In 13 games, Kwiatkowski has a Section II-best 26 goals on his account, including seven multi-goal games and four games with a hat trick or better to help the Patriots to an unbeaten (10-0-3) season to date and a two-point lead over South Glens Falls for first place in the Foothills Council.

“It’s been a really exciting season. I’ve been playing really well,” Kwiatkowski said. “The whole team’s been playing really well. I couldn’t do any of what I’ve been doing without my team.”

B-P head coach Brian Henry knew he had something potentially special in Kwiatkowski back in 2009, when as a sophomore the striker set a program record with 27 goals at the JV level. Hoping to provide his varsity side with an extra postseason spark, Henry brought Kwiatkowski up to the top team at the start of sectional playoffs, where he immediately contributed to a team that won the Section II Class B title and advanced to the state semifinals.

In 2010, Kwiatkowski moved into the role of the Patriots’ primary forward and impressed, scoring 14 goals in 16 games. Then came 2011, and the Fulton County Stop DWI Cup.

That’s when Kwiatkowski exploded onto the scene with seven goals over two games in the Labor Day Weekend tournament, and the scoring hasn’t stopped since for the speedy senior who his coach said has somehow found a whole extra gear this fall.

“He’s always had quick feet, but this year it seems his feet have gotten so much quicker,” Henry said. “There have been times where we’ve watched him and scratched our head with amazement in how he beats two or three defenders.”

“I just have a lot more confidence in myself and the way I prepare for games,” Kwiatkowski said. “There was a lot of offseason training.”

Kwiatkowski said he trusts in his quickness as his best attribute, something he learned from watching his favorite player, Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o, who has won European championships with both FC Barcelona and Inter Milan.

“We play just alike. That’s where I learned everything from,” Kwiatkowski said.

The senior has certainly attracted superstar attention from opposing defenses this year. Still, despite attracting multiple defenders nearly every time he steps out on the pitch, Kwiatkowski has hit the scoresheet in 12 of B-P’s 13 fixtures this year and has at least one goal against every opponent on the Patriots’ schedule. With three games remaining in the regular season and hopes for a long playoff run, Kwiatkowski has at least an outside shot of challenging Jamie Shy’s school record of 43 goals set in 1994.

“What I find most impressive is that he is double-teamed every game — in some cases triple-teamed — and he is still finding ways to put the ball in the back of the net and finding ways to create opportunities for us to score,” Henry said.

It’s something that has impressed opposing coaches in the Foothills, including Scotia-Glenville’s Chris Bailey, who had defenders marking Kwiatkowski throughout the afternoon during B-P’s 3-2 win over the Tartans on Wednesday, but still watched the B-P star tip home a header for his 24th goal of the year early in the second half.

“We man-marked him the whole game. He still was able to get in and get his chances,” Bailey said.

Never, however, was that more evident than Sept. 27 against Queensbury. Tied 1-1 at the half in a match with major implications on the Foothills Council standings, Kwiatkowski made a decision.

“I just put the team on my back, and whatever happened, happened after that,” he said.

What happened was beyond what Kwiatkowski even could have predicted. B-P scored six goals in the final 40 minutes, five of them from Kwiatkowski to set a new career high and send the Spartans slumping bewildered away from Patriot Field after a 7-2 loss.

“It was pretty special, and he scored some pretty fantastic goals,” Henry said. “Even the Queensbury coach said that was a spectacular performance. Hopefully he has a few more of those in him before the end of the season, because we could certainly use it.”