“Making the playoffs was the standard we wanted to set straight off the bat,” said Alexandria Jackson, who served three seasons as an assistant coach for the Bucs before taking the reins this season. “I’m happy for the players that they were able to accomplish the goal they set at the beginning of the year. It took us getting through a lot of adversity, but now we’re in a part of the season where everyone’s record is 0-0.”

(Blinn College freshman forward Emeyda Cruz, 7, battles for the ball during a match against Tyler Junior College on oct. 15)

Blinn (5-9 in Region XIV) is vying for its first region semifinal appearance since knocking off Northeast Texas Community College in the opening round in 2019. To get there, the Bucs will have to overcome an Angelina squad that posted a pair of 1-0 victories over Blinn during the regular season. Angelina is 13-2-1 on the year and finished second in the region with a 12-2 mark.

The familiarity between the conference foes could play in the Bucs’ favor in the high-stakes rematch.

“We’re prepared to go out and compete,” freshman forward Emeyda Cruz said. “We’ve had some tough games against them, but we’ve always put up a fight. We know their strengths and weaknesses, we know their strongest players, and we know what works and doesn’t work against them.”

Sophomore midfielder Anissa Chairez said Thursday’s match provides an opportunity to make waves in both the region and the NJCAA.

“Our expectation is to prove people wrong and beat Angelina,” Chairez said. “We only lost by a goal to them both times, so we want to show everyone that we’ve improved, that we’ve gone through our ups and downs, and now it’s playoff time and we’re ready.”

Like her players, Jackson is excited for a third shot at the Roadrunners, suggesting that her team has learned something new about their upcoming foe in each match.

“They’re a very good team, but we know them,” the coach explained. “They know parts of us, but we’ve changed our game plan every time we’ve played them. On the other hand, we know exactly what they do, how they do it, their star players, and that allows us to dictate how the game is going to go. If we use that to our advantage, I think we’re going to be in good shape.”

Top-seeded and top-ranked Tyler Junior College will have a first-round bye in the region tournament and will face the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals. Other first-round matchups include third-seeded Louisiana State University-Eunice taking on Jacksonville College, and No. 4 seed Navarro College battling Paris Junior College.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987. 

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