BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's soccer team will open its 2013 Landmark Conference season on the road Saturday as the Greyhounds travel to Susquehanna University for a 3:30 p.m. match with the defending Landmark Conference Champion Crusaders.
It is the first of six straight Saturdays of Landmark matches for the Greyhounds with the first two on the road. Moravian is not scheduled to play a home conference match until Drew University travels to Bethlehem on October 12.
"As always, the conference schedule will be difficult," stated Head Coach Todd Ervin. "But, we've been playing very well and our non-conference matches so far have prepared us well for the challenge we'll face starting tomorrow."
The Greyhounds are 5-2-2 so far this fall, matching their win total from 2012. Moravian is unbeaten in four straight matches with a 2-0-2 record, and the Greyhounds have netted at least one goal in six of nine contests this year.
"The level that all of our players are currently at has increased dramatically over the last month," Ervin said. "We have some great battles going on every day for starting positions and it makes us better as a team. As the intensity of those battles intensifies, our quality as a team is going to continue to increase."
Senior forward Jeffrey Algor leads Moravian in scoring with eight goals and two assists this fall, and he has netted three game-winning goals. Freshman forward Saul Marcial has chipped in four goals including a pair of winning goals to go with an assist while freshman forward Brendan Barca has added three goals and two assists.
Junior midfielder Chris Gomez has a goal and two helpers this fall for the Greyhounds while junior forward Shane McCaslin has added a goal and an assist. Sophomore midfielder David Tate scored on a penalty kick in Moravian's last game versus Bryn Athyn College while senior defender Justin Dilts and sophomore midfielder Brett Harder each have two assists.
Sophomore midfielder Seth Reynolds, sophomore Shane Harder, sophomore defender Austin Niekrasz, sophomore midfielder Nicholas Blake and freshman forward Travis Cifarelli all have one assist this fall for Moravian.
Junior defenders Lewis Cooper and Matt Guidon and freshman defender Ian Larimer have helped the Greyhounds allow just 1.37 goals per game this season and are limiting Moravian's opponents to less than 10 shots per match. Sophomore forward Zachary Klein and freshman midfielder Robert McKinley are also contributing for Moravian.
Sophomore goalie Brian Boland has a 1.53 goals-against average in 767 minutes of action for the Greyhounds to go with 34 saves, a shutout and a 4-2-2 record while freshman keeper Jimmy Amorebella has a shutout in his only appearance of the season.
"Our strength lies in our ability to play as a team," Ervin said. "We've already played teams that are more athletic than us on an individual basis, but we play extremely well as a unit and that is going to be very difficult for other teams to prepare for."
