Valliant Effort Falls Short as Conqs Drop Home Finale to Hutchinson

The Dodge City Conquistadors welcomed the Hutchinson Blue Dragons to Memorial Stadium on Wednesday afternoon for their regular season home finale.

The shorthanded Conquistadors played the Blue Dragons strong for 82 minutes before the visitors were able to score twice in just over a minute to capitalize on the tired legs of the Conqs and win 5-3.

Hutchinson came out of the gate in attack mode with four shots in the first 15 minutes of play to Dodge City's zero. However, the Conqs were able to take an early lead in the 18^th minute after a Treasher Valcin shot on goal ricocheted off the cross bar to the right foot of Bethany Middlemass who was able to squeeze the ball in the bottom right corner past the Hutchinson goal keeper for a 1-0 lead.

The Conquistadors held their lead as Ane Garcia de Vicuna withstood several Blue Dragon breakaway attempts until a Hutchinson defender was able to ignite a counterattack with a through pass in the 38^th minute that evened the score at 1-1.

The two teams traded goals in the early stages of the 2^nd half with Hutch scoring in the 48^th minute off a direct kick and the Conquistadors' Treasher Valcin scoring just a minute later off a Maria Macedo assist.

In the 60^th minute, the Blue Dragons were able to apply some pressure on the Conquistador defense with a shot on goal that was stopped barely by the toes of Conq defender, Laurann Brown. Hutchinson was able to secure the ball right back, going up 3-2 in the 61^st minute.

Tate Cuffy dialed up the equalizer just six minutes later with a rocket from 25-yards out that ultimately became the last Conquistador goal on the afternoon. The Hutchinson defense bent, but didn't break as the Conqs had several scoring opportunities around the 75^th minute as the Blue Dragons snuffed out each of the scoring attempts.

With the late stages of the match quickly approaching, it was the Blue Dragon depth that proved to be the difference as they were able to score two quick counter attack goals in a minute apart from each other to take a 5-3 victory on the day.

Despite conceding five goals, the Conquistadors' Ane Garcia de Vicuna withstood 18 shots on goal from the visitors, saving 13 of them. The Conquistador offense made the most of their opportunities scoring three goals on five shots on goal.

The three goals are the most goals scored against the Hutchinson Blue Dragons since a 6-3 loss in September of 2014.

Bethany Middlemass and Tate Cuffy each recorded their second goal of the season while Valcin, who went down with an injury late in the contest, scored her ninth goal in as many games played this season for the freshman from Grenada. Macedo's assist was her eighth on the year.

The Conquistadors fall to 3-9 on the season and in KJCCC play as they sit in 4^th in the KJCCC West ahead of their regular season finale on Saturday, May 15^th in Garden City. Both the men and women will take on the Broncbusters with the women's game kicking things off at 11:00 am.

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