By Gary Stallard
AC Athletics
Hey, sports fans,
AC soccer teams each hosted a pair of home matches this past week, and both groups gave fans plenty of reasons to get loud.
The Roadrunner men posted a pair of shutout wins, while the Lady Roadrunners fought to a pair of draws (despite being down several injured players). The results keep both teams in the hunt for an upcoming postseason berth.
It didn’t hurt one bit to have some kids on-hand showing support. The Nacogdoches Roadrunners, a youth soccer team coached by current Roadrunner soccer player Victor Martinez, walked the team out Friday for the kickoff against Blinn College. At halftime, A&D Legacy Cheer combined three squads (Southern Royalty, Bella Beauties and Magnolia Magic) to stir up the crowd with a dance performance.
On the hardwood, the Roadrunner basketball team picked up four big pre-season wins at the Mullens Jamboree in Duncanville.
This week will feature another huge soccer doubleheader on Friday (along with a Sophomore Night celebration) and the Region XIV Basketball Media Day taking place Wednesday at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens. The event will announce the coaches’ pre-season polls.
We are AC, and we’re ready to Run ‘Em.
Here’s a quick rundown of recent events, along with what’s coming up next:
Roadrunner soccer sweeps the week
The Roadrunner soccer team is peaking at just the right time, and there was no bigger sign of the squad’s momentum than in this week’s two matches.
AC opened the week with a convincing win on Tuesday, beating Louisiana State University-Eunice by a 2-0 final. The Runners broke open a tough first-half defensive battle with a Rolando Gallegos goal in the 55th minute off a Ryudai Seki assist. AC’s Kanta Maruyama put the match away with an absolute bomb from near midfield in the 68th minute, and the Roadrunner defense behind keeper Harrison Bond finished with the clean sheet.
Friday’s match against Blinn College proved even bigger. AC entered the contest in a second-place tie with the Buccaneers, then proceeded to post another 2-0 shutout to take over sole possession of second place in the Region XIV South Zone.
Against Blinn, AC’s Diego Ramirez in the 30th minute took a feed from Angel Benitez and bounced his kick over the Buc keeper for a 1-0 lead. Benitez provided another assist in the 82nd minute, finding Leeyon Phelan in the box for the match-sealing goal off a header.
The two wins leave the Roadrunners (4-3-2, 4-2-2) a half game behind first-place Coastal Bend Community College (4-3-1, 4-2-1) in the conference standings with just three AC matches remaining.
The Runners will host Texas Southmost College on Friday, Oct. 16 starting at 7:30 p.m. The team will host its Sophomore Night in a pre-game ceremony.
Lady Roadrunners soccer draws with LSUE, Blinn
An injury-ravaged Lady Roadrunner team managed to play to a pair of draws against two of the conference’s best teams this week, playing LSU-Eunice to a 1-1 tie on Tuesday before using a miraculous, last-second goal to pull even with first-place Blinn College on Friday.
Tuesday’s match saw the Lady Runners clinging to a 1-0 lead before LSUE found the net with a little more than a minute left in the match to finish with the 1-1 result. AC’s Beatriz Almeida scored her team’s lone goal in the 50th minute, with Olivia Loyola providing the assist.
AC’s ladies bounced back on Friday against Blinn. Trailing 2-1 with the clock winding down to the end of regulation, AC’s Gisela Oyonate headed home the tying goal with just 8.7 seconds remaining in the match, leaving the teams in a 2-2 draw.
Almeida scored the Lady Runners’ first goal in the 42nd minute, giving her six goals on the season.
The results keep the Lady Runners in the playoff chase. AC (4-6-1, 4-4-1) is locked into a tie for second place with LSUE, just one match behind Blinn College (6-4, 5-3) with just two matches remaining in the regular season. [[Editor: verify — Blinn’s record is given with no ties, but the same item has Blinn drawing AC 2-2 on Friday. Keep as submitted; Gary Stallard can confirm at (936) 633-3256.]]
The Lady Roadrunners will host Texas Southmost College on Friday, with kickoff set for 5 p.m. at the Larry Phillips Family Sports Complex on the AC campus.
The team will host a Sophomore Night ceremony before the match.
Roadrunner basketball takes four at Mullens Jamboree in Duncanville
The Roadrunner basketball team is gearing up for what the group hopes will be a big season, and judging from the early results, they have every reason for those expectations.
The Runners traveled to the Mullens Jamboree in Duncanville this past weekend and came away with some impressive pre-season wins.
AC on Friday topped Southwest Mississippi 51-43, and followed up with a 54-31 win over the College of Southern Idaho.
On Saturday, the Runners ran past [[Editor: missing — the opponent’s name dropped out of the submitted copy; the score given is 64-50]] 64-50 before capping the weekend with a 64-61 win over Dallas College-Mountain View.
AC’s first home scrimmage will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 20 against Strength N Motion, with tipoff scheduled for 5 p.m. at Shands Gymnasium.
Basketball schedules available for viewing
We’re still a couple of months away from the start of basketball season, but the Roadrunner and Lady Roadrunner teams already have their 2026-2027 schedules in place. Visit the Angelina College Athletics website (angelinaathletics.com) to view those schedules.
Hoops season is going to get here before we know it.
For those who just can’t wait to know, the Lady Roadrunners tip off their regular season Oct. 30 in Baton Rouge against Delgado Community College, following with another game on Saturday against Baton Rouge Community College also taking place in Baton Rouge. The Lady Runners host their first home game on Nov. 6 against Southern University-Shreveport.
On the men’s side, the Roadrunners open their new regular season with a home game against Strength N Motion on Nov. 2 at Shands Gymnasium.
AC baseball, softball fall schedules
The Roadrunner baseball team will open its Fall 2026 schedule this week with an away game against Alvin Community College. The Runners and Dolphins will square off at Lamar University in Beaumont, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4.
These are exhibition games, so there won’t be any live streaming available, nor will there be stats or final scores posted. Fall schedules for both the Roadrunner baseball and Lady Roadrunner softball teams are posted at angelinaathletics.com.
Potential schedule changes
As always in East Texas, the potential exists for schedule changes because of inclement weather. We try to put out the word as soon as we get it, but the quickest way to confirm game days and times is to visit the AC Athletics website (angelinaathletics.com) to view the most updated schedules. We’ll also send out word on social media (AC Athletics Facebook and Instagram, etc.), but the on-line schedule will always serve up the most recent updates.
Live streaming reminder
All AC Athletics regular-season home games are live streamed on TSBN Sports (a free streaming service for fans), with most of the conference road games also available for streaming. (This does not include baseball and softball fall games, as those are not considered official games.)
Once TSBN posts its schedules, AC fans simply need to visit the AC Athletics web site, look at the scrolling schedule in the middle of the page and click the blue Video link.
TSBN also offers an app great for smart phones, devices and smart TVs. (You’ve GOT to see those matches and games on the big screen.)
Admission to ALL Angelina College Athletics sporting events is free, as is the TSBN live streaming. Any other links offering streaming are scams.
