No. 5 Richard Bland Plays At No. 4 USC Salkehatchie On Wednesday
SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va. -- Richard Bland College will play on the road at USC Salkehatchie in a Region X Men's Soccer Tournament Quarterfinal match on Wednesday afternoon, October 26, at 2 p.m. in Allendale, South Carolina. The visiting Statesmen (10-6-1) will play as the No. 5 seed in the Region X Tournament against the host and No. 4 seed Indians (8-9-1). The winner will advance to a Region X Tournament Semifinal contest on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 5 p.m. at the WRAL Soccer Park in Raleigh, North Carolina.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
No. 5 Richard Bland at No. 4 USC Salkehatchie
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Allendale, South Carolina
Series History: 1-4-3
Scouting the Statesmen
Richard Bland is 10-6-1 overall, finishing 7-6-1 in Region X, attaining its second consecutive 10-win season in the four-year history of the program. The Statesmen, who are 6-3-1 in their last 10 matches, are coached by head coach Eduardo de Souza, who is in his third season, and assisted by first-year assistant coach Nick Surkamp. Richard Bland has been led in scoring through 17 matches by freshman Eduardo Pessoa/Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with 11 goals and one assist for 23 points. Pessoa is followed by freshman Dusan Stankovic/Belgrade, Serbia with six goals and four assists for 16 points, freshman Peter Diawuo/Alexandria with two goals and seven assists for 11 points, along with sophomores Sukrija Dudic/Richmond (4g, 2a) and Sebastian Hendi/Alexandria (5g), as well as freshman Miguel Ramos/Casal de Cambra, Portugal (2g, 6a), with 10 points each. Freshman goalkeeper Tomas Fonseca/Torres Vedras, Portugal has started six of eight matches, playing 559:06 with one shutout, a 1.77 goals against average and 17 saves for a save percentage of .607 percent.
Scouting the Indians
USC Salkehatchie is 8-9-1 overall, also finishing 7-6-1 in Region X, earning the No. 4 seed per its recent head-to-head win against Richard Bland. The Indians are coached by head coach Bill Glass and have been led in scoring by freshman Kristoff Young with five goals and two assists for 12 points. Freshman keeper Erick Guimaraes Cavalcante has started nine matches, playing 725:00 with two shutouts, a 0.87 goals against average and 41 saves for a save percentage of .854 percent.
Series History
This is the ninth meeting between the two schools in the sport of men's soccer. USC Salkehatchie leads the all-time series, 4-1-3, and has outscored Richard Bland by a margin of 22-8 in the eight previous meetings. This season, the Statesmen and Indians tied 1-1 in double-overtime on September 25 at Statesman Field, before USC Salkehatchie took a 1-0 decision against Richard Bland on Oct. 16 in South Carolina.
Last Time Out
Freshman Hussein Osman/Charlottesville scored two goals with one assist, and Pessoa had one goal and one assist, to lead Richard Bland to a 6-0 Region X victory past USC Lancaster in the regular-season finale on Oct. 23 at Statesman Field. Sophomore Rodrigo Carvalho/Lisbon, Portugal, along with Stankovic and freshman Reuben Bosompem/Alexandria, each contributed goals on Sophomore Day. Dudic, Diawuo and sophomore Bryce Deitrich/Farmville each had assists, as well. Freshman Justin Ennis/Gainesville started in front of the net for Richard Bland and played the first 48:56, while Fonseca played the final 41:04 in goal for the Statesmen, making one save, as the two keepers combined for the team's sixth shutout this season.
Up Next
A Region X Tournament Quarterfinal win would advance Richard Bland to a Region X Tournament Semifinal contest on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 5 p.m. at the WRAL Soccer Park in Raleigh. The Region X Men's Soccer Tournament Championship will be played on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 2:30 p.m., also at the WRAL Soccer Park in Raleigh. The other three quarterfinal matches include No. 1 Louisburg (N.C.) hosting No. 8 USC Lancaster, No. 2 Spartanburg Methodist (S.C.) hosting No. 7 Cape Fear (N.C.) and No. 3 Patrick Henry hosting No. 6 Wake Tech (N.C.).