SOCCER FACES TOP TEST VERSUS LOUISBURG ON WEDNESDAY

PETERSBURG, Va., (Sept. 29, 2015) – The Richard Bland College men's soccer team will get a chance to test its mettle against the top team in Region X, when the Statesmen host No. 9 nationally-ranked Louisburg College on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.  The weather calls for 81 degrees and a 50 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms, which might neutralize a Louisburg team that is averaging 4.5 goals per game.

The Louisburg, NC-based Hurricanes lead Region X with a 7-1, 3-0 record. The team has scored 36 goals in eight games, and averages 15.3 shots per game. Impressively, Louisburg has limited the opposition to just four goals this season and have five shutouts this season, tenth best in the nation. The Hurricanes will be the most formidable team Richard Bland faces this season.

WHO: Louisburg College vs. Richard Bland
WHERE: Petersburg, VA
WHEN: September 30 at 4:00 p.m.
SITE: Statesmen Field  
LOUISBURG WEB SITE: Home of the Hurricanes

RECORDS: Richard Bland is 7-3-1, 4-2-1 Region X … Louisburg is 7-1, 3-0.      

CONFERENCE STANDINGS: 1. Louisburg (3-0, 7-1); 2. Spartanburg Methodist (4-1-1, 6-1-1); 3. Patrick Henry  (5-1-1, 7-4-2); Richard Bland (5-2-1, 7-3-1); Cape Fear (2-3-1, 5-3-1); Wake Technical (1-3-1, 1-7-1); USC Salkenhatchie (0-4, 2-7); USC Lancaster (0-6, 1-11).

LAST GAMES VS. LOUISBURG COLLEGE: Louisburg won both games last year, 7-0 on Sept. 12 in Petersburg and 8-0 on Oct. 24 at Louisburg.   

WHAT'S NEXT: The Statesmen remain home, next hosting Charlotte, NC-based Johnson & Wales on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 1:00 p.m. … Louisburg travels to Spartanburg Methodist for a 1:00 p.m. game on Saturday, Oct. 3.

LAST GAME - HARCUM COLLEGE ON SEPT. 27: The Statesmen suffered a tough 6-0 loss to Harcum College in Bryn Mawr, PA on Sunday afternoon.

FOR THE HURRICANES: Louisburg registered a 7-0 victory over Cape Fear Community College on Sept. 22 … Louisburg had its Sept. 26 game against Georgia Military College cancelled.

FROM COACH EDUARDO DE SOUZA: "Sunday was a tough game four our team against Harcum and a learning game for a lot of our new players who saw playing time. Louisburg is a great team, the conference champions a few years back and they are having a fine year. It will be a great game to play for our team."

NO. 3 IN DEFENDING THE GOAL: Freshman keeper Ciro Labrada (Guanajuto, Mexico/Stonewall Jackson) has made 74 saves this season, third best in the nation in NJCAA Division I. He had six saves against Harcum on Sunday.  

GOAL SCORING: Nine different Statesmen players have scored this season, led by leading scorers freshman forward Sukrija Dudic (Srebrenica, Bosnia Hercegovina/Hermitage) and Godfred Baisel (Cape Coast, Ghana/Patriot) with ten and seven goals respectively … That duo accounts for 17 of the 30 goals RBC has scored this year … In recent national NJCAA Division I rankings, Dudic is in an nine-player tie for 18th in the nation in scoring ... Baisel is the program's all-time leading scorer with 28 career goals.

OPPORTUNE SCORING: As a team, Richard Bland entered the week scoring 30 goals this season, which puts the Statesmen in a four-way tie for 31st in the nation … With 36 goals this season, Louisburg sits alone in 18^th place.

HIGH SCORING HURRICANE: Sophomore forward Max Blackmore has scored 12 goals in eight games, which is seventh best in the nation … The team is particularly strong on penalty kicks this season, converting on 4 of 5 opportunities.