Magnificent Seven!!!

Shutout defense led by sophomores Bendawald, Hunter, Peterson, McNiel and Dizdar

The Roughrider soccer team repeated as NJCAA National Champions with a 1-0 victory over San Jacinto College, TX this afternoon in Phoenix. YC finishes the year unbeaten and untied (26-0-0) for their seventh national title in 19 years. With the 26 victories Yavapai becomes the first intercollegiate soccer program to win 26 games in a season. That record includes NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA. It also stretches the current winning streak to 33 games extending back to last season. That is the second longest streak in school history.

The lone goal came 13 minutes into the match as Dirk Peterson headed a corner kick from Pavel Panchenko into the back of the net. From there, the sophomore dominated defense shut down the speedy opponent for the rest of the match. On the season, the stingy defense gave up a meager 11 goals and only 3 scores in the post-season.

The departing sophomore class finishes their career with a 50-2 overall record, the most of any graduating class in the history of the storied program to go along with the back-to-back championships. Hall of Fame Head Coach Mike Pantalione adds to his already impressive resume a seventh national title and an overall record of 443-29-13.

Scoring Summary

• 13th minute – Dirk Peterson assisted by Pavel Panchenko