BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's lacrosse team opens its 2016 season on Saturday, February 27 when the Greyhounds host Rosemont College at Rocco Calvo Field with face-off at 2:00 p.m. in their first varsity match since 2010.

The Hounds are scheduled to play 15 matches this season as an independent before joining the Landmark Conference as a full member in 2017. Moravian previously had varsity men's lacrosse from 2004 through 2010 before moving the program to the club level for the last five years.

"We expect to compete in every game," commented Head Coach Dave Carty, who is entering his 14th year as a collegiate coach with a career mark of 100-102. "We are a hard working team that knows we need to play hard to win games. We have great chemistry and our leaders are great motivators."

Coach Carty has 28 players on his roster this season including 20 freshmen and a number of players from last year's club team.

"It's difficult to say who is going to make an impact at this point in the season," Carty said. "We have a lot of players that are talented but still developing."

Up front, Moravian has attackers on the roster with junior Alex Hughes and freshmen Jack Gozzard, James Carroll and Mark Laratta.

"We have good dodgers at the attack and our midfielders are all good ball handlers," noted Carty. "We are going to go hard at the net and try and get defenses to move."

The midfield will consist of 12 players for the Blue and Grey including senior co-captains Dave Fiumara and Pat Moscatello. Joining the duo will be junior Chris Mayer and freshmen Hayden DuPont. Dominick Gurreri, AJ Cioffi, Alec Oriolo, Christopher Klodowski, Rick Guerra, Austin Adams, Robert Gellatly and Jake Burcaw.

The Hounds have nine defenders on the roster including juniors Andrew Cruz and Ed Delia. Sophomore Michael Debowski and freshmen John Polich, Brian Biase, Michael Palazzi Jr., Zach Clifton, Nicholas Kopko and Anthony Pontone will all challenge for playing time.

"We have players who understand a good team defense is better than a good individual defensive player," stated Carty. "We will be physical on ground balls and not give teams second chances to score."

The Greyhounds have three goalies on the roster in junior Michael Smith and freshmen Kurt Dick and Trevor Bickel.

"We expect to have solid goaltending with the understanding that they need to lead the defense vocally," Carty finished.

Moravian plays four of its first six matches at Rocco Calvo Field, and the team's seven remaining home contests after Saturday's opener will all be played on Wednesday's beginning on March 2 versus Hood College.