No. 19 Richard Bland Improves To 10-0 With Win At USC Lancaster 6-0

ALLENDALE, S.C. -- Freshman Uziel Hernandez/The Villages, Florida had two goals and one assist, and sophomore Hussein Osman/Charlottesville had two goals, to lead No. 19 Richard Bland College to a 6-0 Region X men's soccer shutout victory at USC Lancaster on Saturday evening in Lancaster, South Carolina.  Freshmen Umar Mujahid/Meherrin and Aldai Pozo/Stafford each added one goal for the visiting and still unbeaten Statesmen (10-0, 8-0 Region X) against the host Lancers (3-8, 0-8 Region X).  Richard Bland will return home to host Region X archrival Louisburg (N.C.) College (4-3, 4-1 Region X) on Tuesday, September 26, at 4 p.m. at the Statesman Soccer Field.

"It was a solid performance for us as a team," said fourth-year head coach Eduardo de Souza.  "Uziel was our MVP, and Tomás (Fonseca) has been playing great and keeping us secure.  We just played two hard games in two days, and it shows the character of our team.  Now we have to focus on the next game on Tuesday at home."

Richard Bland scored the first goal in the 23^rd minute when Hernandez found the back of the net, assisted by sophomore Dusan Stankovic/Belgrade, Serbia.  Osman made it 2-0 just minutes later in the 26^th with an assist from Mujahid, who added another assist in the 34^th minute on the second goal of the day from Hernandez to make it 3-0 at the intermission.  Freshman Nikola Aleksic/Belgrade, Serbia also aided on the third first-half goal, which was the sixth of the season for Hernandez.

The Statesmen took a four-goal advantage in the 52^nd minute when Mujahid scored, this time with an assist from Hernandez, for his second goal of the fall.  Pozo scored his first collegiate goal in the 76^th minute, aided by freshman Davi Girardi/São Paulo, Brazil, before Osman closed the scoring with his second goal of the contest in the 88^th minute, assisted by freshman Kaleb Kelly/Leesburg, Florida.  Osman has five goals this season.

Richard Bland took a 28-7 advantage in shots at Lancaster, including 12-3 in attempts on goal, and the Statesmen had a 9-2 edge in corner kicks.

Sophomore keeper Tomás Fonseca/Torres Vedras, Portugal started in front of the net for Richard Bland and played the first 60 minutes with three saves.  Freshman Seth Perez/Fruitland Park, Florida played the final 30 minutes, as he and Fonseca combined for the team's seventh shutout this fall.

Richard Bland now leads the all-time series between the two schools in the sport of men's soccer, 7-4, including five consecutive wins.

Richard Bland has now attained its third consecutive 10-win season under the guidance of de Souza.

Richard Bland and Louisburg will be meeting for the 12^th time next week, as the Hurricanes lead the all-time series, 10-1.  The Statesmen, however, earned their first-ever victory against Louisburg with a 2-1 Region X Tournament Semifinal victory last October 29, 2016 … upsetting the nationally-ranked No. 9 Hurricanes at the WRAL Soccer Park in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Richard Bland claimed the Region X Tournament Championship the next day, advancing to the NJCAA Division I Southeast District Tournament in Daytona Beach, Florida.