Irvine Valley's men's soccer team played well Friday in a big Orange Empire Conference match up with Golden West at home.
But so did the Rustlers and a late second-half goal earned Golden West at 2-1 win over IVC.
The win kept Golden West, which is ranked No. 12 in the state, unbeaten on the season at 9-0-4 and put the Rustlers at the top of the conference standings with a 4-0-2 mark.
Irvine Valley, ranked 14th in the state, slipped to 9-4-0 overall and 4-2-0 in conference.
Golden West scored both of its goals on headers from Andres Guerra off of free kicks by Erick Gomez.
Guerra back-headed a Gomez ball inside the near post in the 38th minute to put Golden West in front.
Irvine Valley tied the match just 1 minute and 35 seconds into the second half when sophomore midfielder Jose Rivera fired a shot from just outside the box into the upper right corner.
The teams went back and forth at each other from there on out.
But Golden West found the game-winner off another header from Guerra in the 82nd minute and then held on.
Irvine Valley had its chances, especially in the first half.
Sophomore forward Connor Elder just missed a shot wide 15 minutes into the contest.
Freshman forward Daniel Segal and sophomore forward Sean Goode also had opportunities.
Irvine Valley goalie Blake Sigler ended up making four saves in the match, while Golden West's Josue Catarino had two saves.
Irvine Valley will play both its matches on the road next week. The Lasers are at Norco on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. contest.
IVC then starts the second round of conference action on Friday at Santiago Canyon at 3 p.m.
