The Blinn College men’s soccer team cruised past Region XIV foe Northeast Texas Community College 7-1 on Wednesday at Hohlt Park’s Rankin Field in Brenham, Texas, behind a record-breaking performance from freshman David Garcia.
Garcia, a forward from El Paso, scored five goals to shatter the Buccaneers’ single-game scoring record.
The Buccaneers are also off to their best start since the program began in the fall of 2018, pushing their overall record to 5-0-1 and improving to 2-0 in region matches.
“We’ve been challenging the players to start a game well and play an entire 90 minutes,” Blinn head coach Michael McBride said. “This is the closest we’ve come to doing that this season. Our work rate was very good this evening and it paid dividends.”
Garcia’s big night gave him seven goals this season and placed him in a four-way tie for second place in the NJCAA Division I for total goals.
Garcia tallied three goals in the first half, opening the scoring in the 16th minute on assists from freshman Joshua Hernandez-Gutierrez and sophomore Peyton Robinson.
Garcia made it a 2-0 game in the 22nd minute when he took an assist from sophomore Felix Mesquita. Mesquita’s assist gives him seven already this fall, which not only ranks him first in NJCAA Division I, but also ties Blinn’s single-season mark for assists.
Sophomore forward Kamille Kum added a goal on assists from Garcia and freshman Bryan Arevalo in the 28th minute, and Garvia took a feed from Kum and Arevalo and turned it into a 4-0 Bucs edge in the 29th minute.
Northeast Texas broke up the shutout in the 40th minute of play.
Garcia went back on the offensive in the second half when Robinson and sophomore Crispin Tshimanga set him up for a goal in the 56th minute.
Freshman Joshua Bull then assists Garcia on his final goal of the night in the 69th minute.
Freshman forward Joseph Ray closed out the scoring for Blinn when he netted a penalty kick in the 74th minute.
The Bucs outshot the Eagles 23-12.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kevin Pena earned his fifth win of the year after making four saves on five shots on goal.
Blinn resumes its season when it hosts sixth-ranked Angelina College for a region match at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, at Rankin Field.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
