Irvine Valley's men's soccer team didn't get off to the best off starts in its first Orange Empire Conference match of the season on Friday at home against Santiago Canyon.
But the Lasers closed with a fury.
Irvine Valley, ranked sixth in the state and 16th in the nation, scored five second-half goals and went on to rout Santiago Canyon, 6-1.
The win lifted Irvine Valley's record to 5-2-1 overall. Santiago Canyon slipped to 2-3-1 overall and 0-2-0 in conference.
The Lasers got two goals and one assist each from sophomore forward Connor Elder and freshman forward Daniel Segal in the victory. And sophomore midfielder Jose Gamboa had a fine game with a goal and two assists.
Freshman midfielder Mitchell Findlay-McKenzie also scored for IVC and sophomore midfielder Jose Rivera had an assist.
The six goals were Irvine Valley's most in a match this season and its highest total in a contest since Sept. 9, 2015 when IVC beat Moorpark, 7-0.
But Irvine Valley was behind in Friday's match to start.
Santiago Canyon scored the first goal of the match in the 18th minute when Amirgy Pineda drove into the box and then laid a pass off to David Vasquez, who one-timed a shot into the back of the net.
Irvine Valley nearly scored two goals early, but both of sophomore forward Sean Goode's one-on-one attempts were saved by Santiago Canyon keeper David Figueroa.
The Lasers looked to be headed into halftime with a deficit, but sophomore defender Scott Clark and Segal changed that just before the end of the first half whistle.
Clark fired a deep throw in from the right side that Segal was able to head inside the near post for a goal and the tie.
The second half was all Irvine Valley.
The Lasers out-shot Santiago Canyon, 10-3. Most of those shots were on target and five of them went in.
The second-half scoring started in the 53rd minute when Elder finished a pass from Rivera.
Three minutes later, Gamboa took a cross from Segal and fired a hard, left-footed shot that beat the keeper near post.
In the 62nd minute, Gamboa lofted a corner kick into the goal moth that Figueroa bobbled, and Findlay-McKenzie was in the right spot to score.
It gave Irvine Valley a 4-1 lead.
Four minutes after that, Elder made a nice run and scored off a free kick from Gamboa.
And IVC finished its scoring in the 71st minute when Segal one-timed a shot on the right side off a pass from Gamboa.
The two goals by Elder were his team-leading sixth and seventh of the season. Segal netted his second and third goals of the season. Gamboa scored his first goal and recorded his third and fourth assists of the year.
Findlay-McKenzie scored his first of the season and Rivera chipped in his third assist.
IVC freshman keeper Blake Sigler made four saves in goal for IVC.
Irvine Valley plays again next Tuesday, traveling to Fullerton for a 3 p.m. conference match.
