MEN'S SOCCER FACES NAIA BLUEFIELD COLLEGE ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT

PETERSBUIRG, Va., (August 25, 2015) – The Richard Bland College men's soccer team will face its toughest test of the season on Wednesday evening when the Statesmen travel to NAIA Bluefield College for a 7 p.m. game. It will be the second time this young season that Richard Bland faces a top-flight local four-year college. The Statesmen kicked off their season with a 2-0 exhibition contest against Averett University on August 19.

WHO: Richard Bland at Bluefield College
WHERE: Bluefield, Virginia
WHEN: 7:00 p.m.
SITE: East River Soccer Complex
DIRECTIONS: (from Richard Bland): Directions (opens Google maps).

RECORDS: Richard Bland is 2-0, with victories of University of South Carolina Lancaster (2-0) and Union County College (4-2) … Bluefield is 0-1 having lost to Longwood University 4-1 on August 19 … Prior to facing RBC, the Owls traveled to University of South Carolina Upstate on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. game.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Statesmen will return to Region X Conference action on Saturday, August 29 with a 2:00 p.m. road contest against Patrick Henry Community College and return home on Monday, August 31 for a 4:00 p.m. conference game against Spartansburg Methodist … Bluefield travels to Liberty University on Friday, August 28 for a 7:00 p.m. game.

LAST TIME OUT: The Statesmen 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. The Statesmen got goals from sophomore forward Godfred Baisel, sophomore center Eduardo Quintanilla off a penalty kick, freshman winger Byrce Deitrich and freshman center Jeffrey Pineda. Statesmen freshman goalie Ciro Labrada had seven saves in the victory, giving him 15 in the first two games of the season.

FROM THE COACH: "I was very happy with the first half against Union," 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."

STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Freshman forward Sukrija Dudic, who scored two goals in his intercollegiate debut against USC Lancaster on Saturday, was named the Athlete of the Week on Monday.