BLINN MEN’S SOCCER FALLS TO DAYTONA STATE 2-1 AT NATIONALS

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

The start of the first NJCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship match in Blinn College men’s soccer history got off to as good a start as the Buccaneers could have asked for.

Unfortunately, the finish was a different story.

Eighth-ranked Blinn tallied the first goal of the match in just the fourth minute of play, but No. 3 Daytona State College scored the equalizer and the go-ahead tally before halftime and held on for a 2-1 victory in both teams’ first pool play tilt on the campus of Daytona State in Daytona Beach, Fla.

“We ended up losing to a worldly (goal) and a penalty kick,” Bucs head coach Michael McBride. “It was a real barnburner and the lads worked tirelessly throughout. Playing the fourth-seeded home team was always going to add to the challenge but the lads gave it their all and that’s all you can ask.”

Ninth-seeded Blinn (14-4-1) wasted no time establishing itself in its first national tournament appearance.

Behind pressure in the Falcons’ third, the Bucs created their early scoring opportunity after sophomore midfielder Sam Sebagabo swiped the ball from a Daytona State defender. Sebagabo fired a quick cross to freshman forward Shefe Odojukan, who was streaking through the box, and Odojukan finished with a shot past a diving defender and the Falcon keeper for a 1-0 lead.

Blinn’s lead would stand until Daytona State’s Giovanni Donzetti scored on an outstanding finish in the 32nd minute, drawing high praise from McBride.

The Falcons (13-2-2) would then take the lead for good in the 45th minute following a Blinn foul in its own box. Daytona State’s Marin Selak took the penalty kick for the Falcons and buried his shot for the game-winner.

For the match, Daytona State outshot Blinn 17-7 and held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.

Bucs sophomore keeper Noah LeMaster made two saves.

Blinn gets right back to work with a pool-play match against fourth-ranked and fifth-seeded Barton Community College at 4 p.m. CT on Monday. The Bucs need a win to have a shot at advancing out of pool play and into the four-team, single-elimination bracket.

Sunday’s match can be watched live on the NJCAA Network at www.njcaa.org.

“I’m immensely proud of the entire squad,” McBride added. “It’s more difficult to progress now than before we kicked off this evening, but it’s not impossible. Stranger things have happened.”