The Blinn College men’s soccer team earned a victory and a bit of revenge with a 6-2 triumph over Hill College on Friday in Brenham, Texas.
The Buccaneers hosted Hill at Rankin Field inside Hohlt Park 13 days removed from a 3-1 road loss to the Rebels. That Aug. 19 setback, Blinn head coach Michael McBride said, came following a poor effort from his club. In its return match against Hill, McBride said the effort was vastly improved.
“The lads put a real shift in this evening,” McBride explained. “There was an intensity, a desire to reverse a poor result from 13 days ago. The lads got after it. They were fired up. They know how poorly we played against Hill the first time and they had a chance to put it right. They did so with bells on and I was really pleased.”
(Pictured: Blinn College freshman Mathew Williams)
Blinn (5-1 overall) controlled the game from the start by taking a 2-0 lead midway through the first half.
Freshman midfielder Mathew Williams converted his third penalty kick in as many chances in the 12th minute of action, and sophomore forward David Garcia followed with a goal in the 20th minute. Sophomores Alvaro Heredia-Garcia (forward) and Toby Lansdowne (midfielder) assisted Garcia, who is now third all-time in Buccaneer men’s soccer history with 19 career goals. Garcia is three goals away from tying the record of 22, held by Stefan Fevrier-Sildor and Farit Ha.
Hill cut into the Bucs’ lead with a penalty kick in the 21st minute, but Blinn scored the next four goals to put the game away.
(Pictured: Blinn College sophomore David Garcia)
Sophomore midfielder Joshua Hernandez-Gutierrez buried a feed from Garcia and sophomore forward Joe Loughnane in the 40th minute; Loughnane hooked up with sophomore defender Flynn Toon, who found the net in the 54th minute; Loughnane scored on an unassisted free kick in minute 58; and Heredia-Garcia was assisted by freshman forwards Phillip Arceneaux and Pascal Pfeifer in the 68th minute.
The Rebels scored their final goal on a penalty kick in the 73rd minute.
Blinn’s six-goal outburst pushed its season total to 23, which is tied for the NJCAA Division I lead.
Freshman goalkeeper Noah LeMaster was in goal for the Bucs and earned his fifth victory of the season, which is also tops in NJCAA DI. He made four saves and now has 23 on the season.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 44 NJCAA national championships since 1987.? For more information, www.buccaneersports.com.
