The Blinn College men’s soccer season got off to a rocky start Thursday as the Buccaneers fell to No. 9 Eastern Florida State College 6-1 in the opener of the Blinn Kickoff Classic at Rankin Field in Brenham, Texas.
“We gave our boys the toughest test we could to start our season,” Blinn head coach said. “That’s what it looks like at the top end of junior college and we’re obviously not there yet. We played well below the level needed to compete against a team of Eastern Florida’s pedigree and the scoreline was a fair reflection of the game.”
Eastern Florida reached the NJCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship tournament in 2023.
“Hopefully we can learn from this quickly,” McBride added. “Because we have another tough test in 48 hours.”
The Titans got on the board quickly, scoring the match’s first tally in the 3rd minute of play. Blinn freshman goalkeeper Connor Vela successfully shut down an initial run by Eastern Florida’s Rhys Shirley, but after the ball squirted away the Titans’ Mukisa Emmanuel snuck a shot past Vela for a 1-0 lead.
Eastern Florida tacked on two more goals later in the half and took a 3-0 advantage into the intermission.
The Titans led 5-0 before Blinn sophomore midfielder Mathew Williams broke up the shutout on a penalty kick in the 81st minute.
Eastern Florida tallied 21 shots on goal to the Bucs’ two.
Vela registered 10 saves for Blinn.
The Bucs conclude the Classic with a matchup against Hill College at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24, at Rankin Field.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 49 national championships since 1987.
