Richard Bland Falls In District Semifinal To Eastern Florida State 2-0

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Richard Bland College dropped a 2-0 decision to nationally-ranked No. 15 Eastern Florida State College in a semifinal match at the 2016 NJCAA Southeast District Championship on Friday afternoon at the ERAU Soccer Field in Daytona Beach, Florida.  The No. 2 seed Statesmen were playing in their first-ever post-season match against the No. 3 seed Titans (12-4).  Richard Bland completes is finest season in the four-year history of the program with a final record of 12-7-2. 

"I am very proud of the amount of work and fight we put against a well-established program," said third-year head coach Eduardo de Souza.  "This group made school history this season.  I want to thank all of the sophomores for believing in Richard Bland men's soccer.  We will be back even stronger next year."

Eastern Florida State, the Region 8 Runners-Up, scored an early goal against Richard Bland at the ERAU Soccer Field on the campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and led 1-0 at the intermission.  The Titans added another goal about midway through the second half to provide for the final margin.

Freshman goalkeeper Justin Ennis/Gainesville started in front of the net for the Statesmen and played the entire 90 minutes, making two saves while allowing the two goals.

Eastern Florida State took a 10-7 advantage in shots against Richard Bland, including 4-3 in attempts on goal.  The Titans had a 3-2 edge in corner kicks.

Richard Bland (12-7-2) established a new school-record for wins (12) this season, and attained its second consecutive 10-win season in the program's four years.  The Statesmen finished the campaign strong with a record of 8-3-2 over their last 13 matches with five shutouts.  Richard Bland received votes in this week's NJCAA Division I Poll, the first-time ever that the Statesmen have earned votes in the national poll. 

Richard Bland had advanced to the post-season for the first time after claiming its first-ever NJCAA Region 10 Men's Soccer Tournament Championship October 29-30 at the WRAL Soccer Park in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Against the odds, the No. 5 seed Statesmen won back-to-back matches on consecutive days against higher seeded teams for their title.  In the Championship match, Richard Bland battled No. 2 seed Spartanburg (S.C.) Methodist College to a 1-1 double-overtime tie, before winning in the PK Shootout, 4-2.  The Statesmen had advanced to the finale with their 2-1 upset of No. 1 seed Louisburg (N.C.) College in a semifinal contest, the program's first-ever win against the defending national champion Hurricanes, who were also ranked No. 9 nationally in last week's Poll.

The nine sophomores on the Richard Bland roster played in their final match for the Statesmen, including defender Rodrigo Carvalho of Lisbon, Portugal, midfielder Bryce Deitrich of Farmville, forward Sukrija Dudic of Richmond, midfielder Tulio Graciano of Cacapava, Brazil, forward Sebastian Hendi of Alexandria, defender Sahir Jovel of Intipica, El Salvador, midfielder Jeffrey Pineda of Los Angeles, California, defender Calvin Sanford of McLean and defender Denzel Speed of Williamsburg.  These young men helped the program to a record of 22-15-4 over the past two years.