thanks to Daniel Supraner, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, Florida Tech for this press release   MELBOURNE, Fla. (Men’s Lacrosse) – Following the best season in the program’s short history, Florida Tech men’s lacrosse enters the 2016 season with high expectations.  The Panthers’ achievements during the previous campaign garnered the team an appearance in yet another preseason poll, coming in at No. 13 in the USILA DII Coaches Poll. A number of other Sunshine State Conference teams are receiving recognition in this year’s preseason poll, including Tampa who takes up the No. 10 spot in the rankings.  Florida Southern, Saint Leo and Lynn are receiving votes in the poll. “The SSC is a relatively new conference, we’re just two years old and already receiving national attention,” stated head coach Ryan McAleavey. “Rollins could also be mentioned in the polls as well. We lost to Rollins last year when we were ranked, so they’re a good program. “I think you’re going to see this conference explode over the new few years,” he continued. “Just with the level of academics at the schools and the locations of all the schools, it’s definitely a destination spot for young players. The quality of play from each school is definitely going to be on the rise.” Of the Panthers’ 13 games this season, nine will be against teams featured in the rankings. Highlighting the schedule is a road trip to Gaffney, South Carolina to face two-time defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Limestone on March 19. “We’re coming off our best season ever and we want to play the top competition we can,” said McAleavey. “Limestone being the two-time defending national champs, it started with scheduling them. Our conference opponents speak for themselves, every one of those games is going to be battle. Lenoir-Rhyne, Mars Hill, Wheeling Jesuit and Seton Hill are all up there as well, Seton Hill being No. 8 in the country.  Across the board, more of these teams are getting better and we want to play the best teams out there. I feel that we as a team have a drive, my guys are hungry and it’s my job to feed them.” FIT will be looking for revenge in its season finale against Tampa on April 6 in Melbourne. Last year the Panthers dropped both meetings with the Spartans, the first determined the No. 1 seed in the SSC Tournament and the second determined the conference champion. The Panthers ended the 2015 season with a 12-4 record and finished runner-up in the Sunshine State Conference, falling to Tampa 11-8 in the championship game. During the season, the Panthers rose to as high as No. 12 in the rankings and were featured in the polls in all but one week during the campaign, the first one. FIT concluded the year at No. 12 in the Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Poll and No. 15 in the USILA Coaches Poll. Florida Tech kicks off the 2016 campaign on Jan. 23 with an exhibition game against NCAA Division I Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida. FIT’s season opener is two weeks later on Friday, Feb. 5 against Young Harris at 7 p.m. ET. All Florida Tech home games this season will be played at Florida Tech Panther Stadium.   USILA DII Poll: http://www.insidelacrosse.com/polls/DII 2016 Schedule: http://www.floridatechsports.com/mlacrosse/schedule   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