thanks to Daniel Supraner, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications – Florida Tech Athletics for this press release   Florida Tech kicks off 2016 slate against the Mountain Lions on Friday at 7 p.m. ET MELBOURNE, Fla. (Men’s Lacrosse) – Tomorrow, all of the waiting and anticipation comes to an end as the Florida Tech men’s lacrosse team takes the field for the first time this season. The Panthers, who enter with a No. 13 preseason ranking, kick off the campaign with their home opener against Young Harris on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. Florida Tech is coming off its best season in program history, winning 12 games and garnering recognition in the national polls. The Panthers finished runner up in the Sunshine State Conference championship game and placed seven student-athletes on the All-Sunshine State Conference teams, leading all member schools with four First Team selections. Entering his fifth season, head coach Ryan McAleavey will maneuver a team that departed 12 seniors from the record-breaking 2015 squad. The Panthers return three starters on attack including Brian Bacarella who makes his return to the unit after running on the first midfield last season. The senior, who enters the year ranking second all-time in program history with 83 career points, will be looked upon to initiate FIT’s offense. “Brian Bacarella is the guy,” stated McAleavey. “He’s our point guy, the offense runs through him. He’ll anchor what we’re doing this season. Brian’s going to have a very good supporting cast, but he’s our guy.” Joining Bacarella on the offensive third are juniors Daniel Errett and Charlie Morrisette. Errett was the team’s leading scorer through the first seven games of 2015 before sustaining a season-ending injury. When he went down, Morrisette took over the lefty-attack position and flourished, scoring goals in all eight of his starts, including three hat tricks. FIT’s midfield unit features 2015 top goal scorer, Jason Terry, who is back for his senior season. The 6-8 sniper notched a school record 37 goals last season and will be one of the team’s top threats on extra-man opportunities. Austen Zugelter joins Terry on the first midfield and McAleavey expects the Vero Beach, Florida native’s athleticism to cause chaos for the opposition this season. “Zugelter has always been a consistent play maker for us. Now in his junior year, if he starts putting up the numbers that we think he can put up, then we’re going to have a really good season. With him running on the same line as Jason Terry, he’s going to draw the short pole and that’s a matchup I feel very favorable about in most situations. “I think Cody Martin at the midfield is another guy who will help us. Right now we have him running with the two’s. He’s an experienced guy on that line and I believe he’s going to do well.” One of the nation’s top faceoff specialists, Travis Wunder, is back at the X for his junior season. Only three players in Division II last season finished with more faceoff wins than the Westminster, Maryland native’s 224 for the year. Wunder looks primed to improve on his .624 success rate from 2015, which ranked 11th in the country. The Panthers return just one starting long-pole from a defense that finished in the Top 18 in every statistical category last season. FIT’s backline will be anchored by Tom Filipow, a true lock down defender who accounted for the third most caused turnovers on the team a year ago. He is going to be the key cog in a defense-by-committee approach this season. “We feel with what we are returning, and what we brought in, there are a lot of guys here that we can rotate on a consistent basis,” McAleavey explained. “Our goal is to play five defensemen a game and rotate them every five to six minutes to keep those guys fresh.” A freshman will start the season off in goal for the Panthers. Although, despite never starting an official collegiate game, Justin Ruiz, an All-American goalkeeper out of Holmdel, New Jersey, has proven he is up to the task. “Justin has come a long way as far as being a blocker,” McAleavey said. “We changed a lot of things and we added a lot to his arsenal this fall. He is a freshman that is not afraid to get in front of the ball, but again he’s a freshman and has to grow into the position.” On Friday, Ruiz and the Panthers face a Young Harris squad coming off a 9-7 season, its best in school history. The Mountain Lions return their top four scorers from last year, including a trio of sophomores from the talent-rich hotbed of British Columbia, Canada. Jayden Campbell led YHC with 46 total points on a team-best 32 goals last season.  Mitch McDole and Chandler Bradley notched 39 and 38 points in their freshmen seasons, respectively, while Michael Gernatt had 13 goals and a team-best 24 assists for the Mountain Lions. Kerry Ostrowski paced YHC in caused turnovers last season with 21. Zack Hathaway produced 14 caused turnovers and was second on the team with 50 ground balls. The Mountain Lions also return their top guy at the X, in Zac Barrett who posted a .515 win percentage on 274 attempts in 2015. This will be the second ever contest between Florida Tech and Young Harris, with the Panthers winning the previous matchup 14-7 back on April 21, 2013. Bacarella dominated in that first meeting, tallying five goals on nine shots. Perhaps the Trumbull, Connecticut native will kick off his senior campaign with a similar performance. J.C. Meyerholz and John Combs will have the call from Florida Tech Panther Stadium.  Fans can access live coverage of the Panthers’ home opener at FloridaTechSports.com/live.   Live Coverage: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/fit/ 2016 Schedule: http://www.floridatechsports.com/mlacrosse/schedule 2016 Roster: http://www.floridatechsports.com/mlacrosse/roster   Daniel Supraner Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Florida Tech Athletics 150 W. University Blvd. Melbourne, Fla. 32901 Work: 321-674-7484 Fax: 321-984-8529