Irvine Valley's women's soccer team stayed in the race for one of the top spots in the Orange Empire Conference with a 4-1 win over Fullerton at home on Friday.
The match was tied, 1-1, at the half, but Irvine Valley scored three goals in the second half for the conference victory.
Irvine Valley improved its record to 8-4 overall and 2-3 in conference, while Fullerton went to 1-9-1 overall and 1-4-1 in the OEC.
Fullerton took a 1-0 lead in the third minute of the contest on a goal by Edie Pfefferkorn.
But it was all Lasers after that. IVC took seven shots in the first 45 minutes.
It took a while, but Irvine Valley tied the match in the 45th minute.
Sophomore forward and IVC leading scorer Kuuipo Laumatia scored off of a ball sent in by freshman forward Paige Shanahan.
And it was all Irvine Valley in the second half.
The Lasers had a goal called back early on an offside call.
But Irvine Valley took the lead for good in the 62nd minute when sophomore midfielder/defender knocked it into the back of the net off of a cross from sophomore defender Haley Flores.
In the 75th minute, sophomore forward Nikki MacDonald hit a shot that richocheted off the crossbar and Flores was right there to score and make it a 3-1 game.
IVC fiinished its scoring in the 90th minute wen a cross by Laumatia was headed in by freshman Aleeza Tapia.
Sophomore goalie Joanna Valdez made two saves on the day.
Irvine Valley has an important conference match next Tuesday when it plays at Golden West at 3 p.m.
