BLINN SOCCER POURS ON OFFENSE IN SECOND HALF TO SEAL WIN OVER HILL IN SEASON OPENER
Sophomore goalkeeper Noah LeMaster earned the victory in his first match since November 2023
In its season opener on a wet night at Rankin Field, the Blinn College men’s soccer team performed like a young team playing its first match of the season.
The Buccaneers also played like winners.
Blinn overcame some expected wrinkles with a strong offensive performance en route to a 7-3 non-region victory over Hill College on Thursday in Brenham, Texas.
“We are a team full of mistakes at the moment, but if we can start ironing out those mistakes, we can be pretty competitive,” Bucs head coach Michael McBride said. “We had some players get hot offensively, and that helped us gain some separation, but I believe the two clubs that faced off tonight were closer than the score line would suggest.”
McBride said he hopes to see his team clean up its decision making and find some discipline in its execution moving forward.
“Our best attributes right now might be our resiliency and our ability to play no-fear football,” McBride explained. “We just kept bouncing back; we never melted down. We told our men that ‘it’s not the mistake you make but what you do immediately afterward.’ They took that to heart tonight and responded when things didn’t go our way.”
The Bucs got on the board first in just the second minute of the match when sophomore forward/defender Kayde Gielinck slipped a long pass through the box and past the diving Hill goalkeeper. Sophomore forward Cristian Estrada was waiting just in front of the Rebel goal and buried a shot for a 1-0 lead.
Sophomore forward Devon Arnold made it 2-0 in the 18th minute on an assist from Estrada and sophomore midfielder Angel Guzman.
A penalty kick in the 24th minute put the Rebels on the board and Blinn took its 2-1 edge into halftime.
After the intermission, Hill tied the match on a penalty kick in the 59th minute.
In the 64th minute, sophomore forward Alan Kocmoud Navarro put the Bucs ahead for good when he took a feed from sophomore midfielder Sam Sebagabo and turned it into a 3-2 lead.
Sebagabo gave Blinn some insurance with a tally in the 66th minute assisted by Kocmoud Navarro and freshman midfielder Diego Floriano, freshman midfielder/defender Coltyn Hale scored off an assist from Kocmoud Navarro in the 70th, Hale scored his second goal of the night on gives from Arnold and freshman defense Logi Gissurarson, and Sebagabo closed out the scoring in the 88th with help from sophomore forward Fernando Arroyo and sophomore defender Alfredo Morales.
Hill posted its final goal of the night in the 81st minute.
The Bucs outshot the Rebels 21-8 with 11 shots on goal. Blinn had a 5-4 edge in corner kicks.
In goal for the Bucs was sophomore goalkeeper Noah LeMaster, who saw action for the first time in 659 days. LeMaster missed the 2024 season with an injury.
In his first match since Nov. 1, 2023, LeMaster played all 90 minutes and recorded four saves while earning his 15th career victory.
“We were certainly happy to have Noah back,” McBride said. “He needs to shake off some of the rust, but he’s such an important part of what we do.”
Blinn’s season continues with a non-region road tilt at Western Texas College at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Snyder, Texas.