A substantial jump forward in 2023 has the Blinn College women’s soccer team ready for even greater heights this fall.
The Buccaneers begin their 2024 campaign with a road trip to Cisco College set for 11 a.m. on Thursday, and kick things off riding the momentum of a fantastic 2023 season.
Nine sophomores return after helping Blinn win their first conference championship and set a program mark for victories (12-4-1 overall record) last season. The Bucs claimed the Region XIV South Division title (via tiebreaker) before bowing out of the postseason in a thrilling Region XIV Tournament semifinal bout with region rival and national powerhouse Navarro College that was decided by penalty kicks.
Fast forward to 2024, third-year head coach 
sees a revamped Blinn team intent on raising the bar even higher.
“Our recruiting strategy every year is to out-recruit your previous class, and that was certainly hard to do this year because we had an exceptional group of freshmen last season,” Jackson said. “The only way to move forward is to keep pushing the envelope in recruiting and raising the expectations we have for those players, and I think we’ve done a fantastic job of that. The players on this team understand what we achieved last year, they know what is expected of them, and they’re ready to go out and perform.”
The bar will be high for the Bucs this fall after the 2023 squad reached double-digit victories for the first time in program history while also setting team records in goals scored (76), goals per match (4.47), and goals allowed per match (0.94).
(Pictured: Blinn’s MaKayla Police moves the ball down field during a game against Paris Junior College on Sept. 19, 2023)
Three Bucs led the team with nine goals scored apiece in 2023, and while two of those players have graduated, sophomore forward MaKayla Police returns as a sturdy offensive weapon for Blinn. Sophomore midfielder Eleanor Sargeant and sophomore forward Marissa Aparicio are also back after chipping in five goals apiece in 2023. Sergeant, who earned first-team all-Region XIV honors last year, was the team’s top offensive distributor with a team-best 12 assists.
Aparicio said the Bucs will look to find offensive production from their veteran players while also encouraging production from its 12 first-year athletes.
“We have returning players who know how to score and know how to take advantage of their opportunities,” Aparicio said. “We’re also going to need our freshmen to seize their opportunities and learn from the older players on how to create shots and score when the chance is there. I think it will be on the sophomores to guide the first years early on until they’re up to speed.”
On the other side of the pitch, Blinn returns two experienced defenders in sophomores Elizabeth Carnes and Samantha Rodriguez, each of whom played in 16 games in 2023. Carnes said Blinn’s defending front and back line will be a mixture of experience and youth but added that the skill level reminds her of 2023’s historic defense.
“We had a great back line last year, but that’s also the case this year without a doubt,” Carnes said. “You have players who know what we were able to accomplish last season and they’re eager to at least match that effort. We have players who are attacking the ball and are putting it all on the line to make the right plays. On top of that, we have a corps of goalies who are capable and ready to support our back line, and that is going to give us even more confidence.”
(Pictured: Blinn’s Elizabeth Carnes passes the ball during a game against Dallas College-North Lake on Aug. 24, 2023)
In goal, Blinn will depend upon a trio of first-year Bucs to keep opposing offenses at bay. Sophomore transfer Jordan Clark (NCAA Division II) brings the most experience, but Jackson said freshmen Brooke Assur and Bethany Sanchez also provide a strong mixture of talent, ability, and know-how to the net.
“Our goalkeeping has gotten a whole lot better,” Jackson explained. “We have three viable options there to give us what we need in different situations, and they’re each competing well against each other during practice. They’ve each had their chances against Division I programs during our scrimmages and held their own, so there is a lot to like there.”
Jackson and the Bucs are aiming to piece everything together quickly as their schedule provides minimal room for error. Following the opener against Cisco, Blinn gets right to work in the region with a road trip to North representative and seventh-ranked Navarro on Aug. 30. The Bucs will then host No. 9 Hill College in a non-region tilt at 2 p.m. on Sept. 3. Additionally, Blinn will face North competitor and fourth-ranked Tyler Junior College at home on Sept. 7, and has matchups against perennial contender and South rival Angelina College on Sept. 20 (home) and Oct. 8 (away).
Prior to the regular season, Jackson pitted her team against NCAA Division I programs Lamar University, Stephen F. Austin University, and Prairie View A&M University in scrimmage matches, with the intention of preparing her players for the grind of a tough region slate.
“We have a very determined team, and we built our schedule deliberately to challenge them and gear them up for what’s to come,” Jackson said. “We aimed early on to put our team – especially our freshmen – in an environment that would replicate what they can expect in our region and prevent them from being shocked or caught off guard by the big moments throughout the year. Our players now have a better understanding of what is going to be expected out of them each time we take the pitch.”
Blinn’s home matches are played at Rankin Field located inside Hohlt Park in Brenham, Texas, and will be broadcast live on www.buccaneersports.com through a partnership with TSBN Sports.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 49 national championships since 1987.
