Wilmington, NC - Cape Fear men's soccer lost 5-0 to Richard Bland on Wednesday.

Early mistakes from the Sea Devils resulted in two quick goals for Richard Bland, which put them in an early hole that was difficult to climb out of. Cape Fear picked up their play towards the end of the half, but more mistakes in the second half led to more goals for the opposing team.

For the game, Cape Fear was outshot 17-3 by Richard Bland.

"We just didn't bring it today," said assistant coach McCartney Barrier. "It's a tough one to swallow, but I have full confidence on what this team can do. They just need to believe that they can do great things. I think we will bounce back and play the way we are capable of playing."

Despite the loss, the coaches were pleased with the play of Connor Rolph and Tyler Keser. Coach Barrier said Rolph played, "solid in the outside back" role, while head coach C.W. Ponton was pleased in how Keser played off the bench.

Rolph and Keser's performances gave the team a small boost, but the Sea Devils, as coach Ponton explained, looked like a team playing their first game in weeks due to the time off because of Hurricane Florence.

"We looked like a team that hadn't played in 22 days, that's for sure," said Ponton. "I'm not mad, but just disappointed. We have a serious fitness issue, which is resulting in a lack of communication and work rate. I saw sparks in the end of the first half but that was about it.

Like coach Barrier, Ponton believes his team will turn it around. "I'm confident we'll bounce back, I just need our team to do the work away from practice and have confidence in themselves."

Cape Fear falls to 3-4 on the season both overall and in conference play. Their next game is scheduled for Saturday, September 6th, where they will take on USC Salkehatchie on the road at 2:00 p.m.

Courtesy of Nick Denning