Richard Bland Travels To No. 18 Patrick Henry On Saturday

SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va. – Richard Bland College will play on the road at nationally ranked Patrick Henry Community College in Region X Conference action on Saturday evening, September 17, at 5:30 p.m. at the Smith River Sports Complex in Axton near Martinsville. The visiting Statesmen (4-3, 2-3 Region X) will be looking for their second-straight win overall, and first-ever, against the host and unbeaten Patriots (6-0, 2-0 Region X), ranked No. 18 in this week's NJCAA Division I Men's Soccer Top 20 Poll.

GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Richard Bland at No. 18 Patrick Henry
Date: Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Location: Smith River Sports Complex, Axton, Va.
Series History: Patriots lead 5-0-1

Scouting the Statesmen
Richard Bland is 4-3 overall, including 2-3 in Region X, following a 5-0 home win past the North Carolina Wesleyan College reserve team on Sept. 13. The Statesmen are coached by head coach Eduardo de Souza, who is in his third season, while assisted by first-year assistant coach Nick Surkamp. Richard Bland has been led in scoring through seven matches by sophomore Sebastian Hendi/Alexandria with four goals for eight points, followed by freshmen Eduardo Pessoa/Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (3g) and Miguel Ramos/Casal de Cambra, Portugal (2g, 2a), each with six points, and classmate Dusan Stankovic/Belgrade, Serbia (2g, 1a) with five points. Freshman goalkeeper Justin Ennis/Gainesville has started five of six matches in front of the net, playing 467:58 with one shutout, a 1.15 goals against average and 18 saves for a save percentage of .750, while classmate Tomas Fonseca/Torres Vedras, Portugal has started two of three matches in goal, playing 162:02 with one shutout, a 1.67 goals against average and two saves for a save percentage of .400.

Scouting the Patriots
PHCC is 6-0 overall, including 2-0 in Region X after its 9-2 conference home win past Wake Technical Community College on Sept. 14. The Patriots are coached by head coach Enda Crehan, who is in his third season, while assisted by Matt Beaton and Anton Traquair. Prior to the win against Wake Tech earlier this week, PHCC had been led in scoring by sophomore Bernard Banaghan with seven goals and nine assists for 23 points, followed by freshmen Milton Juarez (2g, 8a) and James Westfield (3g, 6a), each with 12 points. Freshman keeper Tony Allsopp had posted two shutouts, a 1.20 goals against average and 25 saves for a save percentage of .806.

Series History
PHCC leads the all-time series between the two schools in the sport of men's soccer, 5-0-1. The Patriots have outscored Richard Bland by a margin of 46-5 in the six previous matches. The Statesmen, however, battled PHCC evenly in the most recent match played between the two squads that resulted in a 3-3 double-overtime tie last Sept. 24, 2015 at Richard Bland. The Statesmen dropped a 3-0 road decision to the Patriots last August 29, 2015.

Last Time Out
Stankovic scored two goals to lead Richard Bland to the 5-0 home shutout past North Carolina Wesleyan. Sophomore Denzel Speed/Williamsburg, along with Pessoa and Ramos, each added goals for the host Statesmen against the visiting Battling Bishops, while Ramos and freshman Danny Torres/ Bucaramanga, Colombia each contributed assists to the victory. Fonseca started and played the entire 90 minutes in front of the net for Richard Bland, recording his first collegiate shutout.

Up Next
Richard Bland will remain on the road to play at Region X foe Wake Tech on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 1:30 p.m., before returning to Statesman Field to play four consecutive home matches, beginning with conference opponent USC Salkehatchie on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 1 p.m.