No. 16 Richard Bland Runs Past Visiting Patrick Henry 9-1

SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va. -- Sophomore Hussein Osman/Charlottesville and freshman Uziel Hernandez/The Villages, Florida each scored two goals with two assists to lead nationally-ranked No. 16 Richard Bland College to a 9-1 Region X men's soccer victory past in-state rival Patrick Henry Community College on Saturday evening at the Statesman Soccer Field.  Freshman Davi Girardi/São Paulo, Brazil added one goal and two assists, while classmate Umar Mujahid/Meherrin had one goal and one assist for the host Statesmen (13-1, 11-1 Region X), who attained a school-record 13^th win against the visiting Patriots (3-8, 1-7 Region X).  Richard Bland will remain at home to play Region X member Cape Fear (N.C.) Community College on Tuesday, October 10, at 4 p.m. at the Statesman Soccer Field.

"We came together as a group at this point of the season," said fourth-year head coach Eduardo de Souza.  "This match showed that our game does not drop off when we go to our bench, allowing other players to get some action.  As a group, we know that the next match is always the most important."

Richard Bland scored two quick goals during the opening three-plus minutes as Hernandez tallied at 2:14, assisted by Osman, and Girardi followed at 3:17, assisted by Mujahid.  Osman found the net at 13:55, assisted by Hernandez, and sophomore Agustin Vassallo/Neuquen, Argentina made it 4-0 with a goal at 17:21, assisted by Girardi and freshman Nikola Aleksic/Belgrade, Serbia on a sideline throw-in from Aleksic.  A handball foul whistled in the box allowed Patrick Henry a penalty kick opportunity at 23:19, and Joao Rufino converted, making it 4-1 at the intermission.

The Statesmen added five unanswered goals during the second 45 minutes to provide for the final margin.  Hernandez scored his second goal of the contest at 50:41, assisted by Girardi.  Osman tallied his second goal of the match at 52:07, assisted by Hernandez.  Mujahid scored his goal at 60:28, assisted by Osman.  Freshman Kaleb Kelly/Leesburg, Florida scored a goal at 66:18, assisted by classmate Romeo Kayizali/Kigali, Rwanda.  Freshman Aldai Pozo/Stafford added the final goal at 79:42, assisted by classmate David Negrin/Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.

Sophomore keeper Tomás Fonseca/Torres Vedras, Portugal started in front of the net for Richard Bland and played the first 67:57, yielding the PK goal, while freshman Almir Menezes/São Paulo, Brazil played the final 22:03 with one save.

Richard Bland took a 24-5 advantage in shots against Patrick Henry, including 13-2 in attempts on goal, and the Statesmen had a 15-1 edge in corner kicks.

In addition to the school-record 13^th win, the nine goals scored by Richard Bland is also a school record, surpassing an 8-0 win by the Statesmen during the 2014 season against USC Lancaster (Oct. 27).

Patrick Henry does continue to lead the all-time series between the two schools in the sport of men's soccer, 6-3-1; however, Richard Bland has won each of the last three meetings. 

Richard Bland won its first meeting this season at Cape Fear by a score of 1-0 on September 12.