Richard Bland Upsets Nationally-Ranked No. 13 Patrick Henry 4-3

SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va. – Freshman Dusan Stankovic/Belgrade, Serbia scored two goals with one assist, and classmate Peter Diawuo/Alexandria scored one goal with three assists, to lead Richard Bland College to a 4-3 upset victory past nationally-ranked No. 13 Patrick Henry Community College on Saturday afternoon at Statesman Field. Sophomore Rodrigo Carvalho/Lisbon, Portugal also scored a goal, and freshman Miguel Ramos/Casal de Cambra, Portugal added an assist for the host Statesmen (7-4-1, 4-4-1) in their first-ever win against the visiting Patriots (10-2, 6-2) in Region X Conference action. Richard Bland will remain at home against Cape Fear (N.C.) Community College on Tuesday, October 4, at 4 p.m.

"Team work, resilience and composure, that was our team today!" said third-year head coach Eduardo de Souza. "The boys really put together a 90-minute performance and all the glory goes to the whole roster. We as a staff cannot be more proud of our student-athletes today, just a total team effort!"

Richard Bland jumped ahead early with a goal at 8:54, courtesy of the first of three successful corner-kick opportunities taken by the Statesmen on the day. Diawuo took the corner and Stankovic deflected the ball to Carvalho, who beat the keeper with his low shot to the right side of the net. Richard Bland made it 2-0 at 19:38 when Diawuo collected a long rebound from a saved shot attempt by Ramos and blasted a shot from 30 yards out into the upper 90.

Patrick Henry closed to within 2-1 at the intermission with a goal from James Westfield at 20:29.

Richard Bland took a 3-1 advantage at 55:13 when Stankovic scored his first goal from another corner kick taken by Diawuo. The Patriots answered back at 59:03 with a goal by Chauncey Gwaikolo, and it was a one-goal match again at 3-2.

The Statesmen responded with their fourth goal at 77:56, yet another successful set piece executed perfectly on the corner taken by Diawuo and placed into the back of the net again by Stankovic for a 4-2 lead. Patrick Henry closed to within 4-3 with its final goal at 86:10, scored by Westfield, but the visitors could get no closer as Richard Bland collected its first-ever win against PHCC in eight matches (1-6-1) ... also its first-ever win against a nationally-ranked opponent.

Freshman goalkeeper Tomas Fonseca/Torres Vedras, Portugal started in front of the net for Richard Bland and played the entire contest, making six saves and yielding the three goals. Tony Allsopp started and played the distance for Patrick Henry, making four saves and allowing the four goals, as well.

Patrick Henry did finish with a 17-13 advantage in shots against Richard Bland, including a narrow 10-9 edge in attempts on goal, while the Patriots also had a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks.