PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- The No. 12-ranked Yavapai College men's soccer team dropped a close, intense match Saturday night at Ken Lindley Field against the No. 16-ranked Matadors of Arizona Western College by a score of 3-2. The Roughriders are now 4-2 on the season with two games left before conference play. 

Arizona Western got on the board first in the match with 26:08 to go in the first half on a breakaway score that hit the top-right corner of the net after a sliding attempt to stop the shot from the Yavapai goalkeeper. 

The score remained 1-0 heading into halftime. 

After the break, the Roughriders struggled to find an offensive rhythm for about 20 minutes, but eventually broke through with the tying goal. 

Offensive juggernaut and freshman forward Jesse Maldonado received a nice touch pass from fellow freshman forward Ivan Corral and did what he's done so many times already on this young season: made defenders look silly, faked out the Matador goalkeeper and deposited the ball into a yawning net. 

After the flashy goal, Yavapai ran into some unfortunate luck on the other end of the field. 

Less than two minutes after Maldonado's score, the Matadors were moving up the field on a rush and scored a goal off of a cross pass that went off of a Roughrider defender's back. 

Down 2-1, the Roughriders did not hang their heads and tied the match up at 2-2 just one minute after the Arizona Western goal. 

Freshman midfielder Michal Mojzis saw sophomore forward Dauda Woodruff sprinting to the middle of the field, like a shot out of a cannon, and lobbed a perfect pace in stride for Woodruff who headed the ball into the net before the Matador goalkeeper could snatch it out of the air. 

With electricity in the air, emotions running high and the offense in a rhythm, Yavapai looked to take the lead for the first time in the match. With just over 16 minutes left to play, sophomore defender Jakob Larson headed a corner kick to the back of the net, but saw his shot stopped on an athletic save from the Matador goalkeeper. 

With just over 10 minutes left in the match, some more bad luck plagued Yavapai as a foul gave Arizona Western a penalty shot that they cashed in on for a 3-2 lead. 

The last 10 minutes of the game turned into an intense battle up and down the field and saw many close scoring chances for the Roughriders, including a climactic shot off the foot of Maldonado that hit the top post with just over two minutes to play. 

When the clock struck zero, however, Arizona Western finished off the victory with a 3-2 final. 

Up Next
The Roughriders return to the soccer field Tuesday in Tucson, Arizona, for a match against the Aztecs of Pima Community College at 7 p.m.