MEN'S SOCCER PUSHES NO. 1 LOUISBURG IN TOUGH 1-0 LOSS

LOUISBURG, S.C. (Oct. 25, 2015) -- When playing the No. 1 ranked team in the country, there are no moral victories, just the intent to play your finest game and pull off a magnanimous upset.

The Richard Bland College men's soccer team did play one of its finest games of the season, and while the Statesmen lost 1-0 to No. 1 ranked Louisburg College on Sunday afternoon, there may be some solace in controlling vast portions of the game and nearly reversing a 6-1 loss the team endured against the Hurricanes on Sept. 30.

The nation's second leading scorer in NJCAA Division II Max Blackmore, tallied the game's lone goal in the 15th minute of action, and that tally held up, though the Statesmen chased and pressed the Hurricanes the entire game.

"You're never pleased with a loss, but I am really impressed with how we played today," said Richard Bland head coach Eduardo de Souza. "We really dominated the game, hit the post on a shot and had four other good opportunities right at the net that just didn't go our way."

The narrow loss leaves Richard Bland at 11-5-2, 8-4-2 in Region X. Louisburg improves to 15-1, 9-0. Both teams will compete in the Region X Conference Championships, which are tentatively slated to begin on Wednesday, Oct. 28. The Statesmen will likely host either Cape Fear Community College or USC Salkenhatchie, while Louisburg will host USC Lancaster.

"We were confident we could win the game and the players deserved to win the game," said de Souza. We played to No. 1 team as best we could on their own field, and we had our chances and came very close. Soccer is like that, but if we play like we did today in the conference playoffs, we have a good chance to win some games."

Freshman keeper Ciro Labrada (Guanajuto, Mexico/Stonewall Jackson) made five saves in the contest.