Irvine Valley's men's soccer team, ranked No. 15 in the latest CCC2A state rankings, earned an important 4-3 Orange Empire Conference victory at Orange Coast on Tuesday.
The Lasers moved their record to 6-2-2 overall and 1-0-2 in conference. But the Lasers had to work for it.
A last-minute goal propelled the Lasers to win over the host Pirates at the OCC Soccer Complex.
Coast got on the scoreboard first when Grayson Marquez fought through a pair of Laser defenders and coaxed the ball past charging Lasers' freshman goalkeeper Josh Simonton and into the back of the net in the 25th minute, putting the Pirates up, 1-0.
But back-to-back goals from IVC sophomore forward Grant Miller off a Pirate turnover and a penalty kick goal by sophomore forward Ivan Lopez gave IVC a 2-1 lead at the break.
Just four minutes into the second half, a long throw-in from Hope Saito found its way to the leg of Randy Arciga, who ripped a shot into the net to even the match at 2 for the Pirates.
Irvine Valley, which started the match with back-to-back ties to start OEC play, regained a one-goal advantage with a tally from sophomore forward Christopher Camarena in the 60th minute.
OCC battled back in the 84th minute, and Devin La Clair found a streaking Yoskue Yokota, who one-timed a pass into the box, where Floresta Damiano scored past Simonton to level the match at 3-3.
But just two minutes later, Camarena sent a pass into a dangerous area and Miller didn't miss, putting the Lasers up for good. Camarena had the assist.
IVC goalie Simonton finished with four saves for the Lasers.
Lopez finished with one goal and one assist and now has seven goals and seven assists on the season for 21 points. The two goals by Miller also gave him seven goals on the year.
Irvine Valley plays host to Santiago Canyon in a conference matcn at home on Friday at 3 p.m.
