docs: public static Date asDate(String expression, Node node, XPath xpath)
              throws XPathExpressionException {
          String dateString = evaluateAsString(expression, node, xpath);
          if (isEmptyString(dateString)) return null;
  
          try {
              return DateUtils.parseISO8601Date(dateString);
          } catch (Exception e) {
              log.warn("Unable to parse date '" + dateString + "':  " + e.getMessage(), e);
              return null;
          }
      }