FAST START LEADS MEN'S SOCCER TO 4-2 WIN OVER UNION COUNTY COLLEGE

PETERSBURG, Va., (August 22, 2015) – The Richard Bland men's soccer team jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead, getting goals from three different players, and held off a late surge by Union (NJ) County College, to register a 4-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at Statesmen Field.

Richard Bland scored the first of its three first half goals just 6:19 into the contest and tacked on its second tally under ten minutes later. Leading comfortably midway in the second half, Union CC drew within 4-2 with back-to-back goals at the 26:01 and 23:39 marks, but a defiant Statesmen defense held the Owls in check from that point on.

The victory improves Richard Bland to 2-0 for the second consecutive year. The Statesmen return to action on Wednesday, August 26 with an away night game against Bluefield College at 7:00 p.m. Union drops to 0-2 following a 4-1 loss to Cape Fear Community College on Saturday and next travels to Anne Arundel Community College on Saturday, August 29.

"I was very happy with the first half," said head coach Eduardo de Souza. "There was no letdown from our victory over USC Lancaster on Saturday. The team is coming together and learning quickly. Our next game against Bluefield will be a true test for us. They're an NAIA school and very capable. They're a four-year school with a lot of seniors who played Longwood University very well in a 4-1 loss. These are the type of games you want to play to prepare for our next conference game against Patrick Henry next Saturday."

The Statesmen were offensive-minded into the first half, getting the game's first goal from sophomore forward Godfred Baisel at the 38:41 mark. The goal was orchestrated by freshman winger Lorenzo Romero, who took on two players down the line and fed Baisel perfectly, who lofted his shot into the top right corner of the goal.

At the 29:03 mark, sophomore center Eduardo Quintanilla found himself all alone on a breakaway, but was fouled in the box. He tallied Richard Bland's second goal when his penalty kick found the bottom left hand corner of the goal. The game-winning goal was textbook soccer, earned with nine minutes remaining until halftime. Freshman center Rodrigo Carvalho sent a beautiful lob pass into the feet of Baisel, who collected the ball and sent a perfect pass to freshman winger Byrce Deitrich, whose goal sailed into the right hand corner of the goal.

The first 15 minutes of the second half remained a deadlock before the Statesmen tacked on their fourth goal when freshman center Jeffrey Pineda corralled a loose ball following a corner kick and ripped his shot from 18 over the Union goalie's head at the 27:43 juncture. "All I had in mind was to help the team increase its lead and close the deal on the game," said Pineda afterwards.

Statesmen freshman goalie Ciro Labrada had seven saves in the victory, giving him 15 in the first two games of the season.