Men's soccer team ends regular season with a win, eyes playoffs

Courtesy of Jim McCormack
Courtesy of Jim McCormack

Irvine Valley's men's soccer team ended the regular season with its fourth straight win.

The Lasers held on to defeat Santiago Canyon, 3-2, in an Orange Empire Conference game on the road on Friday.
Now the waiting game begins for IVC. Two weeks ago, it didn't look like Irvine Valley had a chance to make the playoffs.

The four wins and a strong strength of schedule might have put the Lasers in the running for a postseason spot.

Regional playoff pairings will be announced on Monday afternoon.

With its win on Friday, Irvine Valley improved its record to 8-9-3 overall and 5-6-3 in conference. The Lasers ended tied for fifth in the conference standings.

IVC held a 3-0 lead in the match at Santiago Canyon at the half.

Sophomore midfielder Mahyar Shabani got Irvine Valley on the board in the 23rd minute with a goal off an assist from sophomore forward Daniel Segal. It was Shabani's third goal of the season.

And then in the 33rd minute, freshman midfielder Gibae Kim scored off a pass from Shabani. Kim scored his sixth goal of the season and sixth in the last four matches.

The Lasers made it a 3-0 game when sophomore forward Julian Anaya scored off a deflection from freshman midfielder Joshue Gallardo. It was Anaya's sixth goal of the year.

Santiago Canyon missed a penalty kick in the opening half and had a player sent off with a red card in the 75th minute, but the Hawks continued to battle.

Devin Cornejo scored two late goals to get Santiago Canyon within 3-2, but the Lasers held on.

Freshman keeper Nathan King made five saves in the match for Irvine Valley.