MELBOURNE, Fla.– With the men’s lacrosse team preparing for its second season, Florida Tech head coach Ryan McAleavey released his 2013 schedule on Tuesday. The Panthers will play nine of their 14 games and three of their seven Deep South Conference games at their home field, Melbourne Central Catholic’s Hustler Stadium. “If you were to sum it up in one word, excitement,” McAleavey said of moving toward the second season of the program. “We have 17 new faces on the team, and come spring time we will have a roster of 34 players. That is 11 more kids than we had last year.” After opening the fall season with a second consecutive sweep of its annual Battle at the Beach Tournament, Florida Tech looks to build on its 2012 inaugural season with three-straight DSC games to open 2013. The Panthers will open the 2013 campaign on the road at Saint Leo on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. Four days later, on Feb. 16, FIT will play host to Rollins College in its home opener at 7 p.m. The Panthers will then travel to Tampa on Feb. 20 before starting a five-game non-conference homestand. “It is typical down here in Florida,” McAleavey said of beginning the season with three-straight conference opponents. “This is something that will likely change the following season when we join the Sunshine State Conference. I was talking with another conference coach, and we agree that we want to schedule the conference games towards the end of the year when we are at our best.” From Feb. 23 to March 12, FIT will host Lindenwood (2/23), Coker (3/1), Belmont-Abbey (3/6), Mount Olive (3/9) and Molloy (3/12) on its home turf. The contest against Lindenwood is scheduled for 2 p.m., while the ladder four games are all set to begin at 7 p.m. “We have nine home games,” McAleavey said. “A lot of the teams are coming down during their spring break: Molloy, MIT and Belmont-Abbey. We are lucky to be in Florida, because of the warm weather everyone wants to come down. We can benefit from that. “Molloy is a strong team and will likely finish the season in the top-10, and Lindenwood is a team out of Missouri that is on the rise. We beat Coker last year, and lost a close game to Belmont-Abbey.” On March 15, the Panthers will travel to Salisbury, N.C. to take on DSC foe Catawba. Two days later, FIT will trek to Wingate for its final conference road game of the regular season. FIT will then host Lenoir-Rhyne on March 22 and Florida Southern on April 3 to close out conference play. In between those two games, the Panthers will host Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday, March 20 at 5 p.m. “We are planning a barbecue after the game with MIT,” McAleavey said. “With the similarities between the two schools, we feel it is a good opportunity to bring future engineers together. Our president Dr. Anthony J. Catanese is all for it and will also be involved with the festivities.” More information about the festivities surrounding the contest with MIT will be released at a later date. The DSC Tournament is schedule to run from April 9-14, 2013 this season. FIT scheduled a final regular season contest with Young Harris at Bolles School in Jacksonville on April 21. “The one thing that really stands out to me about this team is their work ethic,” McAleavey said of his 2013 squad. “How fast they came together as a team and how well they work together has been great. If we can build off that, I think it is going to be fun to coach and fun to see.”