The 1997 Yavapai College Soccer Team captured the conference, regional, district and national titles and finished the season undefeated with a 23-0-1 overall record. The 1997 Roughriders were a dominating bunch, not allowing a single goal during the national tournament while amassing six goals on their way to the national championship. This marked the school's third of seven national soccer championships. Three players were named to the All-Tournament Team and later inducted into the NJCAA Soccer Hall of Fame, attacker Kevin Jeffrey, defender Matt Kirkpatrick and Goalkeeper Kelvin Jack.
The sophomores on the team completed their brilliant careers with a 45-1-2 overall record while the freshmen eventually compiled a 46-2-1 record. In 2022, the 1997 squad became only the sixth all-time team inducted into the NJCAA National Soccer Hall of Fame. Head Coach Mike Pantalione said this about his third national championship team:
"The best locker rooms and teams are player driven. The leadership traits, playing ability and soccer knowledge exemplified by all soccer team members in 1997 -- that combination was the best of any Yavapai College soccer team."
Congratulations to Yavapai College Hall of Fame Inductees -- the 1997 National Championship Yavapai College Soccer Team!
Team Members: Matt Kirkpatrick, Kevin Jeffrey, Kelvin Jack, Hakim Bakhti, Kim Briels, Thomas Munck, Daniel Roe, Cody Okuda, Junior Becerra, Ty Engram, Ryan Lockhart, Marc Dudley, Dan Lundgren, Andy Hutchison, Alan Watson, Travis Sterling, Ty Hibbert, Jason Martin, Arturo Romo, Nathan Barton, Alberto Mancera, Ramon Garcia, Santiago Aceves, Alex Zametkin.
