Irvine Valley's men's soccer team scored two late goals to pull away from and beat Santiago Canyon, 3-1, in an Orange Empire Conference match on Tuesday at Santiago Canyon.
It was a big win for the Lasers, who had tied Santiago Canyon the first time the two teams met.
IVC, which ranked 14th in the nation and seventh in the state, remained in first place in the Orange Empire Conference and improved its record to 12-2-4 overall.
The Lasers, with a 9-0-2 mark in conference, sit three points (one win) ahead of second-place Golden West. There are three matches left in the regular season.
Irvine Valley plays at Golden West on Friday at 3 p.m. in a contest that will go a long way in determining the conference title.
The Lasers scored first against Santiago Canyon on Tuesday, getting a goal from freshman guard Connor Elder off a pass from freshman forward Toby Waterman in the 39th minute.
IVC went into the halftime break up, 1-0.
Santiago Canyon tied the match up five minutes into the second half. Kyle Pizano converted a penalty kick for the Hawks.
The game stayed tied until the 75th minute when freshman forward Joseph Ferguson scored what turned out to be the game-winner for the Lasers.
He took a pass from freshman midfielder Jose Gamboa and scored.
As Santiago Canyon pushed forward to try and get an equalizer, Elder added his second goal of the game in the 87th minute to put the match away for IVC. Waterman picked up his second assist of the day.
Sophomore goalie Manuel Zamora made eight saves, including six in the second half, in the win for Irvine Valley.
The Lasers have now won six straight contests and have out-scored opponents, 16-4, over that time.
The two goals by Elder gave him nine on the season, which ranks third on the team. With the two assists, Waterman now has eight on the season. He leads the team with 14 goals and eight assists for 36 points.
Ferguson's goal was his third and upped his point total to 10. And Gamboa earned his seventh assist, which is second best for the Lasers.
Zamora picked up his seventh win of the year and lowered his goals against average to 1.10.
IVC plays at Golden West on Friday and then is at Santa Ana next Tuesday. The Lasers conclude the regular season and conference play a week from Friday at home against Cypress.
