Jose Rivera, who starred on the Irvine Valley men's soccer team last season, has signed and will play for NCAA Division 1 Cal Poly this fall.
As a sophomore midfielder for the Lasers in 2016, Rivera was one of 24 players named to the California Community College Soccer Coaches Association Men's All-State Team.
Rivera was a two-year all-Orange Empire conference selection for the Lasers.
Rivera was also named to the Southern California All-Region team.
He finished with 13 goals and 14 assists for 40 points in 2016 for Irvine Valley. He was tops on the IVC team in assists and also paced the conference and ended up fourth in the state in the category.
He scored 13 goals and had five assists as a freshman for IVC in 2015.
Rivera helped Irvine Valley reach a Southern California Regional Playoff Final for the second year in a row in 2016.
IVC lost, 3-2, in the regional final to eventual state champion Mt. SAC.
Rivera led the Lasers to a 16-5-3 overall record and a second-place finish in conference last year.
Irvine Valley ended up ranked seventh in the state and 10th in the nation in final polls.
Rivera will join IVC teammate and fellow all-conference and all-regional player Sean Goode at Cal Poly.
Rivera is headed to a Cal Poly team that finished with a record of5-9-3 overall and was 3-5-2 in conference.
Cal Poly is coached by former United States Men's National Team and Major League Soccer coach Steve Sampson. Former Irvine Valley associate head coach Shaun Harris is part of the coaching staff at Cal Poly.
The Mustangs open the regular season in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament against the Indiana University on the campus of Notre Dame on Friday, Aug. 25.
