The head coach had no idea he was also sending his sophomore defender out to make history.
In the fifth minute of sudden-death overtime of the Gulf South District Tournament quarterfinal, Tshimanga made a heads up play on a cross kick mishandled by Jacksonville College goalkeeper Adam Gallagher, sending a loose ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 victory and a landmark moment for the Buccaneers on Wednesday at Hohlt Park’s Rankin Field in Brenham, Texas.
The game-winner ended 94 minutes of tense, scoreless action and punched Blinn’s ticket to the semifinal round of the postseason tournament for the first time in program history.
Wednesday’s playoff tilt was the Bucs’ fifth consecutive postseason appearance and first-ever playoff home game at Rankin Field.
Freshman forward David Garcia fired the shot at Gallagher that set up Tshimanga’s decisive score. Garcia and sophomore forward Kamille Kum were credited with assists on the play.
“I came from behind the defender, handled the ball, and just shot it in,” Tshimanga said. “Coach McBride put me in at the end and told me to do my job. Then, that moment was made possible because of David’s great shot and me just being ready for anything. This entire game tonight was about trusting our teammates, putting all of our energy into the match, and working toward getting into the second round. And now we’re there.”
McBride, who has led the Buccaneers to four postseason appearances in each of his four seasons as head coach, said every player that took the field for Blinn has part ownership of the outcome.
“The bottom line is this: Everybody did their job tonight,” McBride said. “Everybody did their job, and when they all do their job, we have a chance.”
(Pictured: Blinn College freshman defender Flynn Toon controls the ball during a match against Jacksonville College on Oct. 26)
Until Tshimanga’s timely boot, Blinn (13-6-2) and Jacksonville played a competitive defensive stalemate which featured a total of 25 shots (16 for Blinn) and eight saves.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kevin Pena defended three Jaguar shots and earned his 12th victory for the Buccaneers, which extends his single-season and career record (21).
The Jaguars put a sizeable amount of pressure on the second-year keeper inside the box, but the efforts of Pena and freshman defender Flynn Toon – who made his presence felt with a barrage of successful headers – along with others, kept Blinn’s net empty all night. McBride called Toon an “absolute warrior” following his performance.
“Jacksonville played a heck of a game, and you have to give them props for that,” Pena said. “A little mistake by them and us keeping the energy up the entire night is what brought this one home for us. I have to give credit to my teammates, too, because I couldn’t have kept Jacksonville out of our goal without them. I pushed them and they pushed me, and that helped us get the job done.”
Blinn entered the tournament seeded fourth and now meets top-seeded Tyler Junior College, which is ranked sixth in NJCAA Division I. Second-seeded and seventh-ranked Angelina and third-seeded and 11th-ranked Louisiana State University-Eunice also advanced and will meet in the other tournament semifinal bout. The winner of the tournament earns an automatic bid for the NJCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship tournament in November in Melbourne, Fla.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
