The Blinn College women’s soccer team is looking to reach new heights this spring.
“The Blinn women’s soccer team is still a fairly new program, but we want to build on the foundation that has been laid the past two seasons,” head coach Michael McBride said. “The team improved tremendously in 2019, but this year they want to be in the playoffs. That would be making history for them, and that’s the landmark that they want.”
Blinn boasts experience with 12 returners and three sophomore transfers.
“This year’s team is full of talent and is a lot more technical than last year,” McBride said. “The growth I have seen from our 2019 team to this year is the most I have seen in 20 years of coaching. They all have that can-do mentality and want to go further.”
Hope Hillhouse (Amarillo) returns after leading the Buccaneers with six wins and 101 saves in 15 games in 2019. She earned honorable mention all-region honors after ranking second in the region with an .835 save percentage and third in total saves and goals against (20).
“We are very stable at the goalkeeper position,” McBride said.
Incoming freshman Angel Chase (Houston) is new to the goalkeeper position. She earned all-district honors at Westside High School.
Forward Karson Funderburk (Cypress) returns after finishing second on the team with seven goals and leading the team with four assists in 16 games. Jessica Vital (Sealy) also returns as a forward after playing nine games in 2019.
“Our forwards are working very hard at practices and I think we have a team that create chances,” McBride said. “I now look forward to us converting those chances.”
Defenders Lindy Jenkins (Brenham), Jocelynn Lausell (Houston), Maribel Garza (Houston), and Emily Rodriguez (Nacogdoches) return to the Buccaneers.
Jenkins played 14 games and started six, Lausell started 14 games, Garza played six games, and Rodriguez saw action in four games. Angelina College transfer Kaitlyn Rios (Lake Jackson) will also join the defenders.
Makayla Segura (San Antonio), Keana Flores (Houston), Ilora Molina (Waco), Alyssa Cisneros (Cypress), and Jannell Medellin (Houston) return as midfielders.
Segura played 16 games and started three, Flores recorded one assist in 15 games, Molina recorded one assist in 12 games, and Cisneros and Medellin each played six games.
Midfielders Grace Parada (Dallas) and Morgan Winthrop (Lake Jackson) will join the Buccaneers as transfers. Parada transferred from Eastfield College where she started 17 games, while Winthrop transferred from Angelina where she started 16 games.
Incoming freshmen Lexington Kneedler (Pasadena), Morgan Zachos (Houston), Alyssa Gomez (Granbury) are expected to make an impact as midfielders. Kneedler earned all-district honors at Deer Park High School, Zachos led Cypress Woods High School to three district and two area championships, and Gomez was the district’s co-offensive most valuable player after leading the district in assists at Granbury High School.
“I think fans are going to enjoy what they see on the field and the process of building this program,” assistant coach Alexandria Jackson said. “We have a very young team with our first recruiting class settling in the team. We look to represent this great college well thorough high work ethic and competitive energy.”
The Buccaneers will open the season against Paris Junior College on Friday, April 2, at 3 p.m. at Rankin Field. The Blinn men’s soccer team will take the field against Paris at 5 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 41 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
