MEN'S SOCCER FACES NO. 1 NATIONALLY-RANKED LOUISBURG SUNDAY

PETERSBURG, Va., (Oct. 24, 2015) – A rare opportunity presents itself on Sunday for the Richard Bland College men's soccer team: A chance to face the No. 1 nationally ranked team in the country in the final regular season game of the season. 

Louisburg College sits atop the NJCAA Division I rankings with a lofty 14-1 record, the only loss coming to Monroe College 2-0 on Aug. 29. The Hurricanes are a perfect 8-0 in Region X and have locked up the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference playoffs. For the Statesmen, fresh off a 1-0 victory over Cape Fear Community College on Wednesday afternoon, the game affords RBC to reverse a lopsided 6-1 loss to Louisburg on Sept. 30 and make a thunderous splash heading into the playoffs. 

REGION X STANDINGS: 1. Louisburg 8-0, 14-1); 2. Patrick Henry (7-2-1, 9-5-1); 3. Spartanburg Methodist (12-3-1, 10-3); 4. Richard Bland (8-3-2, 11-4-2); 5. USC Salkenhatchie (3-6-2, 4-10-2); 6. Cape Fear (3-7-1, 6-7-2); 7. Wake Technical (2-10-1, 2-11-1); 8. USC Lancaster (0-9, 1-16-1). 

WHO: Richard Bland vs. No. 1 Louisburg College 
WHERE: Louisburg, N.C.  
WHEN: October 25 at 2 p.m. 
LOUISBURG WEB SITE: Home of the Hurricanes 

RECORDS: Richard Bland is 11-4-2, 8-3-2 Region X … Louisburg is 14-1, 8-0. 

LAST GAME VS. LOUISBURG: Played on Sept. 30 in Petersburg, the Hurricanes cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Statesmen. Recap and stats at this link. 

WHAT'S NEXT: The Statesmen will have the let the rest of the Region X schedule play out, but all indications point to Richard Bland hosting a first round playoff game either against USC Salkenhatchie or Cape Fear on a date to be determined (potentially Oct. 28) … Louisburg, the top seed in Region X, will host No. 8 USC Lancaster ...  

LAST RBC OUTING VS. CAPE FEAR:  It took almost the entire game, but the Statesmen pulled out a big win against Cape Fear, 1-0, on Wednesday afternoon … Sophomore Godfred Baisel (Cape Coast, Ghana/Patriot) scored the game winner in the 88th minute … Full recap and stats at this link. 

COACH EDUARDO DE SOUZA ON THE LOUISBURG GAME: "We are playing the No. 1 ranked team in the country and it's a great opportunity for our players to fight a way to beat them. If we focus well, we'll have a chance to earn a big win against a great Louisburg team." 

DEFENDING THE GOAL: Freshman keeper Ciro Labrada (Guanajuto, Mexico/Stonewall Jackson) has made 101 saves this season, 10th best in the nation in NJCAA Division I ... On eight occasions this season he has had six or more saves in a game. 

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 14 and 11 goals respectively … That duo accounts for 25 of the 41 goals RBC has scored this year … In recent national NJCAA Division I rankings, Dudic is in a seven player tie for 25nd in the nation in scoring ... NJCAA statistics are updates afer each game, so positioning changes on a game-by-game basis … Baisel is the program's all-time leading scorer with 30 career goals. 

OPPORTUNE SCORING: As a team, Richard Bland has scored 41 goals this season, which puts the Statesmen at 58th in the nation ... The Statesmen average 2.4 goals per game and allow 2.11. 

ABOUT LOUISBURG: The Hurricanes have scored 72 goals this season (4.88 per game), which ranks 7th in the country … Max Blackmore had scored 26 goals, second best in the nation behind Jerry Patino of Kennedy-King … Blackmore's 59 points are fifth best in the country … Goalie Braulio Linares-Ortiz has a .071 goals against average, fifth best in the country … Louisburg has 59 assists as a team 7th best in the country … With seven shutouts this season, the team has earned the 11th best national spot …