No. 14 Richard Bland Wins Region 10 Semifinal Past Cape Fear 2-0

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Freshmen Uziel Hernandez/The Villages, Florida and Ervin Ikanovic/Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina each scored a goal to lead nationally-ranked No. 14 Richard Bland College to a 2-0 Region X (10) Men's Soccer Tournament Semifinal victory past Cape Fear (N.C.) Community College on Saturday morning in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  Sophomores Jamie McAvoy/Ayr, Scotland and Hussein Osman/Charlottesville each had an assist for the No. 1 seed Statesmen (17-1) against the No. 4 seed Sea Devils (9-7-1).  With the win, Richard Bland not only advances to the Region 10 Tournament Championship against No. 2 seed Louisburg (N.C.) College on Sunday, October 29, at 12 p.m. in Spartanburg, South Carolina, but also qualifies for the NJCAA Division I Southeast District Tournament on November 3-4.

"It was a good win and we are glad to be in the final," explained fourth-year head coach Eduardo de Souza.  "Unfortunately, we lost one of our leaders (Finn Busse) to an injury, and we wish him a speedy recovery.  It's now time to focus on tomorrow's match."

Richard Bland took a 1-0 advantage in the 34th minute when Hernandez found the back of the net with the assist from McAvoy, and it remained 1-0 at the intermission.  The Statesmen added a late insurance goal by Ikanovic in the 80th minute with the assist from Osman.  Hernandez has scored 11 goals this season, while Ikanovic has five goals.  McAvoy and Osman each have eight assists this season.

Sophomore keeper Tomás Fonseca/Torres Vedras, Portugal, aided as he has been all season by the outstanding play of his defensive teammates, took care of the rest with three saves toward the team's 11th shutout this season.  Fonseca started in front of the net for the Statesmen and played the entire contest for his ninth shutout.

Richard Bland took 15 shots against Cape Fear, including six attempts on goal, as well as six corner kicks.

Richard Bland and Cape Fear were meeting for the 12th time in the sport of men's soccer, and the Statesmen lead the all-time series, 8-4, including eight-straight wins against the Sea Devils.

Richard Bland will play No. 2 seed Louisburg (13-5) in Sunday's Region 10 Men's Soccer Tournament Championship.  If Richard Bland wins the Region 10 title, the Statesmen will host the Southeast District tournament on Nov. 3-4 at the Statesman Soccer Field.  Region 10 is hosting this year's District event, as the tournament winner will host and the runners-up advance, as well, along with one school from Region 8 (Florida) and one school from Region 17 (Georgia).