Men's soccer team finishes week strong, shuts out Hartnell

Men's soccer team finishes week strong, shuts out Hartnell

Irvine Valley's men's soccer team wrapped up a solid week with a second straight win.

The Lasers earned one of their best results of the season so far with a 2-0 nonconference victory over Hartnell on Friday at home.

IVC handed Hartnell its first loss of the year.

Irvine Valley leveled its record on the year at 3-3-1 with the two wins this week.

IVC defeated Santiago Canyon, 2-1, on the road to start Orange Empire Conference play on Tuesday.

On Friday, Irvine Valley was on the attack from the start and paced by sophomore forwards Toby Waterman and Kendrick Nguyen up front.

Irvine Valley took a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute thanks in part to the effort of sophomore midfielder Andrew Hernandez.

Hernandez won a ball near midfield, beat a defender and then sent a through ball to freshman forward Joseph DiCarlo on the right side. DiCarlo rolled the ball into the box to Waterman, who had his first shot blocked. But Waterman stayed with it and poked his next attempt into the back of the net for the lead.

It was Waterman's team-leading third goal of the season.

Freshman forward Eder Olivas followed with two good opportunities, but both shots went over the top of the bar.

But Olivas finished later in the half. Just before the end of the first half, Hernandez lofted a free kick into the box. The ball was deflected to Olivas, who hammered a low shot into the right corner of the net from about 25 yards out.

Olivas also netted his third goal of the year.

IVC had a 2-0 lead and the momentum going into halftime.

The Lasers did enough in the second half to hold on for the win.

The defense, led by sophomore Alfonso Quezada-Osorno and freshmen Kevin Pineda, Juan Sebastian Oliveras and Michael Saba along with freshman keeper Braden Peters kept the shutout intact.

Peters finished with three saves on the day.

Irvine Valley plays again next Tuesday at Fullerton in a conference match at 3 p.m.