Irvine Valley's men's soccer team won its second straight match to begin Orange Empire Conference action, beating Fullerton, 3-1, at home on Friday.
IVC, ranked No. 15 in the state, scored two goals in the first half and took a 3-0 lead midway through the second half in earning the victory.
Irvine Valley (5-2-2, 2-0-0) has now out-scored its first two opponents in conference play, 7-1.
"The group is getting better and better and we have more and more confidence in everyone that is out there for us," Irvine Valley coach Martin McGrogan said. "It was a real physical battle out there today and I thought our guys really hung in there and played tough."
Irvine Valley held a 2-0 lead at halftime after two goals two goals off free kicks set up by sophomore midfielder Jose Gamboa.
Gamboa sent perfectly placed balls to the front post on free kicks in the 10th and 20th minutes that led to IVC goals. Freshman forward Joseph Ferguson knocked in the first one and freshman defender Marcos Cervantes was in the right spot to finish the second Gamboa pass.
"Gamboa worked hard and played really, really well for us today," McGrogan said.
IVC freshman keeper Hagen Truniger made two solid saves in the first half on point blank shots, denying Fullerton's Alec Afarian just three minutes in and then Eduin Munguia in the 29th minute.
Gamboa nearly gave Irvine Valley a three-goal lead 15 minutes into the second half. His free kick from 25 yards out was knocked over the top by Fullerton goalie Juan Carlos Ramirez.
IVC did make it 3-0 in the 71st minute when freshman midfielder Alan McTiernan fed streaking freshman midfielder Jose Rivera on the right side. Rivera slotted the ball by Ramirez and into the back of the net.
Fullerton (2-6-1, 0-1-1) answered with a goal two minutes later on a free kick. Munguia was fouled in the box and Brian Pacheco then converted the penalty kick to the right side.
On the play, IVC went down to 10 men after a red card to Irvine Valley's Scott Clark.
Fullerton pushed forward after that, but Truniger made another close range save on a shot by Dennis Moreno.
Irvine Valley settled in and held on after that. Both teams were at 10 players apiece after Fullerton's William Rodriguez picked up a red card in the 82nd minute.
In all, the physical match-up featured six yellow cards and two red cards combined between the two sides.
Truniger finished with four saves in goal for Irvine Valley, while Ramirez had five saves for the Hornets.
Irvine Valley will play again on Tuesday, traveling to Orange Coast for a conference contest at 3 p.m.
