No. 15 Richard Bland Top Seed For NJCAA Region 10 Tournament
SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va. -- Richard Bland College has earned the No. 1 seed for the 2017 NJCAA Region 10 Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, and has received a bye into the tournament semifinals on Saturday, October 28, at 9 a.m. in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Spartanburg Methodist College is hosting the championship weekend at Spartanburg High School. The nationally-ranked No. 15 Statesmen are the defending Region 10 Tournament Champions.
Richard Bland, led by fourth-year head coach Eduardo de Souza, finished their regular season with a school record of 16-1, including 13-1 in Region 10, to claim the top seed and will play either No. 4 seed Cape Fear (N.C.) Community College (8-6-1, 7-6-1) or No. 5 seed Wake Technical (N.C.) Community College (6-7-1, 6-7-1) in a tournament semifinal match on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 9 a.m. CFCC and WTCC play in a first-round game on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 5 p.m. in Wilmington, North Carolina.
"Advancing to the tournament semifinals for the third consecutive year comes from humility, hard work and passion for what we do here at Richard Bland College," said de Souza. "We are very proud about the accomplishment so far, but our group knows that a new season starts at playoffs, and we are very prepared for this weekend."
Louisburg (N.C.) College (11-5, 11-3) is the No. 2 seed for the region tournament and will play No. 7 seed Patrick Henry Community College (3-14, 1-13) in another tournament first-round contest in Louisburg, North Carolina. The other first-round match includes No. 3 seed Spartanburg Methodist (11-5-2, 7-5-2) against No. 6 seed USC Salkehatchie (6-10, 6-8) in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
The additional Region 10 Tournament semifinal matching the LC-PHCC winner versus the SMC-USCS winner will take place on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 11 a.m. in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The Region 10 Championship contest is set for Sunday, Oct. 29, at 12 p.m. at the Nash Soccer Field on the campus of Spartanburg Methodist in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Richard Bland swept its season series against every other school in Region 10, except Louisburg, who defeated the Statesmen 2-1 in overtime on September 26 at the Statesman Soccer Field. The Statesmen avenged that narrow setback with a 5-3 road win against the Hurricanes on Oct. 4 in North Carolina. Richard Bland swept Cape Fear (1-0, 3-0), Wake Tech (3-1, 4-1), Spartanburg Methodist (5-0, 1-0), USC Salkehatchie (4-1, 1-0) and Patrick Henry (4-0, 9-1).
Richard Bland has been led in scoring by freshman Davi Girardi/São Paulo, Brazil with 13 goals, including six game-winners, and six assists totaling 32 points. Freshman Uziel Hernandez/The Villages, Florida adds 10 goals (four game-winners) and nine assists for 29 points, followed by sophomores Dusan Stankovic/Belgrade, Serbia with 10 goals (three game-winners) and two assists for 24 points and Hussein Osman/Charlottesville with eight goals and seven assists for 23 points. Sophomore keeper Tomás Fonseca/Torres Vedras, Portugal has started 16 matches and played 1361 minutes in front of the net with eight shutouts, a 0.60 goals against average (only nine goals allowed) and 41 saves for a save percentage of .820 percent. The Statesmen have posted 10 shutouts in 17 matches this season.
NJCAA Region 10 Division I Men's Soccer Tournament
October 28-29, 2017
Spartanburg Methodist College | Spartanburg High School Field
Spartanburg, South Carolina
Tournament Bracket (PDF)
Tournament Standings (Conference Regular Season Record)
1. Richard Bland (13-1)
2: Louisburg (11-3)
3. Spartanburg Methodist (7-5-2)
4: Cape Fear (7-6-1)
5: Wake Tech (6-7-1)
6: USC Salkehatchie (6-8)
7: Patrick Henry (1-13)
Tournament Schedule (The First Round games (must be completed by Wednesday, October 25, 2017)
#1 Seed Richard Bland receives a bye
#7 Patrick Henry @ #2 Louisburg
#6 USC Salkehatchie @ #3 Spartanburg Methodist
#5 Wake Tech @ #4 Cape Fear
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Semifinal 1: 9 a.m. - #4/#5 Winner vs. #1 Richard Bland
Semifinal 2: 11 a.m. - #3/#6 Winner vs. #2/#7 Winner
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Championship Game: 12 p.m. – Semifinal 2 Winner vs. Semifinal 1 Winner