Irvine Valley's men's soccer team dropped its first match of the 2015 season, but it wasn't for a lack of effort, especially in the second half.
Down three goals, IVC rallied furiously in the final half and especially in the final minutes, but still came up short in a 3-2 decision.
Irvine Valley's record slipped to 3-1-2 overall, while Hartnell improved to 6-1-0 overall.
"It is what happens when you give up a couple of goals that you probably shouldn't have," IVC coach Martin McGrogan said of the end result. "But it was match played between two very good teams. Our guys kept working and trying to get that goal all the way until the end."
Hartnell led, 3-0, at halftime after getting two goals from Alejandro Cibrian and another from Sergio Morales. Cibrian took a through pass from Daniel Pulido and out-raced the IVC defense to score in the 11th minute.
Cibrian scored a similar goal in the 37th minute, but this time he took a long punt from Hartnell keeper Fabian Narez and then found the back of the net.
Morales scored with a shot near post after IVC couldn't clear a throw in.
Down, but not out, Irvine Valley came out firing shots in the second half.
Freshman defender Sebastian Piema's shot from distance was saved by the Narez. And then Narez had to make a diving save on a shot by freshman forward Joseph Ferguson.
IVC got on the board in the 57th minute. Freshman midfielder Albert Chavez found freshman forward Toby Waterman open on the left wing. Waterman charged toward the goal and then found freshman forward Connor Elder open in the box. Elder one-timed a shot past the keeper to make it a 3-1 game.
The Lasers got a little closer in the 79th minute. Waterman earned a free kick by drawing a foul. Ferguson sent the free kick into the box where freshman midfielder Jose Rivera was able to flick a header into the net.
Irvine Valley had several chances to tie it down the stretch. A right-footed shot by Piema to the upper left corner just missed with six minutes left and then in the final minute of the match, IVC had a series of shots on target that were deflected away by defenders.
Waterman, Rivera and Elder each had strikes that looked good, knocked aside.
Irvine Valley freshman keeper Hagen Truniger ended with four saves, while Narez had six saves for Hartnell.
Irvine Valley plays again next Tuesday, hosting Rio Hondo at 2 p.m.
