An early goal by freshman forward Connor Elder and a diving save on a penalty kick in the final minute by sophomore goalie Manuel Zamora drove Irvine Valley to a 1-0 win over Orange Coast in an Orange Empire Conference match on Friday at IVC.
The win was the Lasers' fifth in a row and kept them alone in first place in the conference standings.
IVC, which is ranked ninth in the state, stayed three points (one win) ahead of Golden West and six points in front of Santa Ana.
Irvine Valley improved its record to 11-2-4 overall and 8-0-2 in conference. Orange Coast's record slipped to 6-9-1 overall and 5-5-0 in conference.
Irvine Valley scored on its first shot of the first half. In the 11th minute, Elder headed home a free kick from the right side sent in by freshman midfielder Jose Gamboa. It was Elder's seventh goal of the season and Gamboa's sixth assist of the year.
IVC freshman midfielder Alan McTiernan had a shot saved near post by Orange Coast goalie Ryan Brown.
Zamora saved shots by OCC's Isaac Campos and Kelly Hess later in the half.
But it was a save by Zamora in the final minutes of the contest that proved to be the difference in the IVC victory.
Orange Coast continued to pressure as the second half went on. And the Pirates earned a penalty kick when Jesus Estrada was taken down in the final minute.
Zamora guessed right, however, diving to his right to deflect Ty O'Connor's penalty kick attempt away.
After three minutes of extra time, the referee blew the final whistle.
"He did really well there," IVC coach Martin McGrogan said of Zamora's effort. "He really looks forward to stopping penalties."
Zamora, who made eight saves on the day, and the defense of freshmen Scott Clark, Khalid Francis, Ethan Thrall, Marcos Cervantes and sophomore Cesar Ortiz helped Irvine Valley record its fifth shutout of the season and second in the last three contests.
Irvine Valley now has three big road matches in a row coming up. The Lasers play at fourth-place Santiago Canyon next Tuesday and are at second-place Golden West on Friday. They take on third-place Santa Ana at Santa Ana on Nov. 10.
