Richard Bland Earns 4-0 Shutout Against Visiting Cape Fear (N.C.)

SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va. -- Freshman Eduardo Pessoa/Rio de Janeiro, Brazil scored two goals, while sophomores Sebastian Hendi/Alexandria and Sukrija Dudic/Richmond each added a goal to lead Richard Bland College to a 4-0 Region X Conference shutout victory past Cape Fear (N.C.) Community College on Tuesday evening at Statesman Field. Freshman Dusan Stankovic/Belgrade, Serbia had two assists, while Dudic and freshman Finn Busse/Kiel, Germany each added one assist for the host Statesmen (8-4-1, 5-4-1 Region X) against the visiting Sea Devils (3-7, 3-7 Region X). Richard Bland will play on the road at USC Salkehatchie on Saturday, October 8, at 2 p.m. in Allendale, South Carolina.

"We take every game as if it were our last game," said third-year head coach Eduardo de Souza. "I am very happy with the overall team performance, especially our defense that gave us another shutout. Our forward line also performed well with Eduardo, Sebastian and Sukrija finding the net. Our total focus now is this weekend, when we play two games back-to-back in South Carolina."

Richard Bland led 2-0 at the intermission against Cape Fear after first-half goals by Pessoa and Hendi. Pessoa scored his first goal of the match early at 4:25, assisted by Stankovic, and Hendi tallied his goal at 33:41, assisted by Dudic. The Statesmen finished the first 45 minutes with a 12-0 advantage in shots versus the Sea Devils.

Richard Bland added to its advantage with a pair of second-half goals, as well. Pessoa notched his second goal of the contest at 54:45, again assisted by Stankovic, while Dudic scored his goal at 75:44 with the assist from Busse. The Statesmen maintained the large majority of the possession throughout the second half, taking an 11-1 advantage in shots over the final 45 minutes.

Pessoa continues to lead Richard Bland in scoring this season, now totaling 10 goals. Hendi now has five goals, and Dudic has four goals. Stankovic now totals four assists, Busse has two assists and Dudic posted his first assist this fall.

Freshman goalkeeper Justin Ennis/Gainesville started and played the entire 90 minutes in front of the net for Richard Bland, recording one save while posting his third shutout.

Richard Bland finished the match with a 23-1 advantage in shots against Cape Fear, including 17-1 in attempts on goal. The Statesmen had a 9-3 edge in corner kicks, as well.

Richard Bland, now 6-2-1 at home this season, will play its next four matches on the road, beginning this weekend at USC Salkehatchie on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 2 p.m. in Allendale, South Carolina, followed by a contest at USC Lancaster on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 2 p.m. in Lancaster, South Carolina.