Irvine Valley's women's soccer team's special season will continue with word on Tuesday that the Lasers qualified for the Southern California Regional Playoffs.
It will be IVC's first playoff appearance in 20 years.
Irvine Valley ended the regular season with a record of 12-3-6 overall and 9-3-4 in the Orange Empire Conference.
IVC finished third in the conference standings, which was also its best finish in 20 years.
The Lasers, who have been ranked as high as eighth in Southern California this season, were one of 18 teams picked for the playoffs and earned the No. 11 seed.
They will play a familiar foe in the first round, taking on conference rival and the sixth seed Cypress on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Irvine Valley split matches with Cypress this year, falling, 3-0, on Oct. 7 at Cypress and then scoring the program's first ever win over the Chargers on Nov. 7.
In that Nov. 7 match at Irvine Valley, the Lasers beat Cypress, 1-0.
"It was huge," IVC third-year coach Joe Supe said after the win. "The girls played a fantastic game. They came out hungry and did everything right."
Irvine Valley got its goal in the 25th minute off of the foot of freshman forward Crystal Lefebvre.
But Irvine Valley scored a goal on a perfect shot in the box by freshman forward Crystal Lefebvre in the 25th minute.
Lefebvre leads Irvine Valley with eight goals on the year. Freshman forward Rosa Soto Aleman has seven goals and sophomore forward Tiana Salazar has totaled five goals. Salazar leads the team in points with 19 on five goals and nine assists.
The Lasers have out-scored opponents, 37-16, this season.
The 16 goals against in 21 matches is a school record for the least amount of goals in a season.
The strong defensive effort has been led by sophomore Emely Portillo and freshmen Evelyn Lucatero, Marissa Perez, Christina Anderson and Virginia Hickman.
The winner of the Cypress and Irvine Valley match will move on to play either No. 3 College of the Canyons or No. 14 Saddleback.
Irvine Valley and Saddleback tied, 1-1, in conference match last week.
In all, five teams from the Orange Empire Conference made the playoffs this season. They are No. 1 Santiago Canyon, No. 6 Cypress, No. 11 Irvine Valley, No. 14 Saddleback and No. 18 Golden West.
