WEATHER PERMITTING, SOCCER TO HOST JOHNSON & WALES ON SUNDAY

PETERSBURG, Va., (Oct. 2, 2015) – If Hurricane Joaquin cooperates fully and continues to drift away from the eastern seaboard and spares the mid-Atlantic region from a predicted deluge of rainfall accompanied by gusty winds, the Richard Bland men's soccer team will host Charlotte, N.C.-based Johnson & Wales University at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Statesmen Field.  

According to the National Weather Service, regardless of which way Joaquin heads – and as of Friday morning the brunt of the storm may bypass Virginia – an area of low pressure in the Southeast and a front stalled over the East Coast will create a separate storm. This will cause heavy rain over the next few days. How this affects Sunday's game, playable field conditions and safe travel by Johnson & Wales will be determined closer to the game.

Johnson & Wales has four campuses, the cornerstone and largest residing in Providence, Rhode Island. Other locations include North Miami, Denver and Charlotte. The North Carolina-based Wildcats soccer team is competing in its first year.

WHO: Johnson & Wales vs. Richard Bland (Game subject to change based on weather, field conditions and travel).
WHERE: Petersburg, VA
WHEN: October 4 at 1:00 p.m.
SITE: Statesmen Field 
JOHNSON & WALES WEB SITE: Home of the Wildcats

RECORDS: Richard Bland is 7-4-1, 4-3-1 Region X … Johnson & Wales is 6-0 heading into Saturday's away game at Mid-Atlantic Christian.  

LAST GAME VS. JOHNSON & WALES: This is the first meeting between the two schools.  

WHAT'S NEXT: The Statesmen play their next three games on the road, beginning with an Oct. 10 contest against the University of South Carolina Salkenhatchie at 4:00 p.m. … JWU will play a second game against Mid-Atlantic Christian on Oct. 10 at 3:30 p.m.

LAST OUTING VS. LOUISBURG COLLEGE: The Statesmen fell 6-1 to the No. 9 nationally-ranked team in NJCAA Division I on Wednesday afternoon in Region X play at Statesmen Field.

FOR THE WILDCATS: Johnson & Wales is in the midst of a six-game winning streak, most recently defeating the University of South Carolina Lancaster 3-0 on Sept. 23 … In their six victories, the Wildcats have allowed just three total goals and are averaging 4.5 goals per game … Richard Bland and JWU share two common opponents, USC Lancaster and Wake Technical Community College, and are a combined 4-0 against those opponents.

FROM COACH EDUARDO DE SOUZA: "Johnson & Wales is a first-year program, but they are undefeated and having a good season. We know it will be a good, tight game and we are looking forward to the challenge."

NO. 3 IN DEFENDING THE GOAL: Freshman keeper Ciro Labrada (Guanajuto, Mexico/Stonewall Jackson) has made 79 saves this season, third best in the nation in NJCAA Division I. He had six saves against Louisburg on Sunday. National statistics are updated each Monday. 

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 eight goals respectively … That duo accounts for 18 of the 31 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.