PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- Whether it be 9,140 miles from the Prescott campus or just three miles away, the Yavapai College women's soccer team boasts student-athletes from all over the world. Three of its student-athletes, however, call Prescott, Arizona, their hometown and were a part of history this fall as they competed in the program's inaugural season. 

Forward Emma Alvarez and twin sisters Hailey Mayhan (defender) and Lauryn Mayhan (goalkeeper) all grew up in Prescott, played soccer together at Prescott High School and graduated in May of 2020, before making their way to the women's soccer program at Yavapai. 

During their senior season, the trio dominated as the Badgers finished with a 17-1-1 record and 7-0 record in the Grand Canyon Region while only allowing their opponents to score six goals. 

"It was super cool being able to grow up with the same group of girls and finish our senior year of high school playing soccer together, doing something we love," said Hailey Mayhan as her sister added that the trio have been playing together since they were eight years old. 

After the conclusion of their high school season, however, the future Roughriders weren't sure that college soccer was on the horizon for them. 

"I, personally, never thought that I would play past high school," said Alvarez. "After our last playoff game, I realized I might not ever play again and I didn't really like that." 


Luckily for Alvarez and the Mayhan sisters, word got out that Yavapai was set to be adding women's soccer to its historic athletic department and the opportunity of what could be started to take shape. 

"The thought was always out there when they started the idea of a women's program at Yavapai," said Hailey Mayhan. "Emma and I actually reached out to [Head Coach] Rozie [DeWeese] when we first heard about it and told her that we wanted to be a part of this, that it would be super cool to play in our hometown." 

The timing, however, wasn't exactly perfect as the program didn't get added in the fall of 2020, giving the trio a gap year between soccer (in which they still took classes at Yavapai and worked) and some extra time to decide on their respective futures. 

Once the program was a go for the fall of 2021, however, Alvarez and Hailey were on board and just had one thing left to do: convince Lauryn to come along for the ride. 

"I didn't think I was going to further my soccer career, I thought high school was the end for me," said Lauryn Mayhan. "I wasn't too interested at first, however, after a little convincing, I decided to play another year and am so glad that I did. I don't regret it at all."

"It took just a little bit of convincing," said Hailey jokingly. "We wanted her to be a part of the experience with us and luckily it worked out."

Not only furthering their respective soccer careers collegiately, the trio was also fully aware of how special it was to not only be competing in their hometown, but to also be the first-ever women's soccer team in Yavapai history. 

"Playing in my hometown made it all the more special," said Lauryn. "Having your family and the same people that have been supporting you for years was an incredible perk."

"Growing up, we used to watch the Roughriders play all the time," said Hailey. "It was so cool to finally get there and realize that we are the Roughriders now." 

Alvarez reflected many of the same sentiments as the Mayhan sisters and added, "I think being the first of anything is cool, because you aren't forgotten. And to have such a successful year for being a first-year program, was even cooler." 

The aforementioned success came early and often for the Roughriders as they earned a 5-1 victory in the program's first game, defeated region foe Cochise 4-1, earned the program's first ever victory over a ranked opponent with a 2-1 win over No. 7-ranked Pima and qualified for the regional playoffs at the end of the season. 

Like every season, however, the incredible campaign didn't come without some adversity to fight through. 

"After the Mesa game [a 6-2 loss on the road on August 31], we all got together and asked ourselves what we wanted our goals to be," said Alvarez. "One of our major goals was to make it to regionals and that's what we did. We never lost sight of our goals."

While it all comes down to scoring more goals than the opponent to win soccer games, the strong bonds formed on the team were equally as significant as the play on the field. 

"I think the relationships on this team were really strong," said Hailey. "I think that's what helped us go that far, all the way to regionals. I felt like I knew these girls more than some that I played with my whole life. We accomplished so much in a short time and exceeded our expectations." 

Lauryn mirrored her sister's thoughts and added, "Having those strong relationships helped us stay away from some of our lower times."

With their first season on their hometown team complete and the end to their sophomore academic years on the horizon, the trio have mostly decided on their respective paths in the future.

Lauryn Mayhan has completed all of her classes at Yavapai and is set to attend a four-year university. Her sister, Hailey, is still deciding on playing another season as she intends to pursue a career in nursing in the future. Alvarez is "90%" sure that she will be back for a second season, despite having some hoops to jump through in order to make it happen. 

Regardless of their future paths, the trio will continue to be successful in all endeavors and will always be a part of Yavapai College history as members of the first ever Roughriders women's soccer team. 



"Playing soccer for my hometown has been one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done," said Lauryn. "It's been awesome to see us grow towards what we want to do along with the soccer careers that we have made for ourselves."