Irvine Valley's men's soccer team stormed back from a halftime deficit with three goals in the second half to beat Chaffey, 4-2, in the first round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs on Saturday afternoon at home.
With the win, Irvine Valley, seeded seventh, improved its record to 12-5-4 overall. Chaffey, seeded 10th finished its season at 10-7-5.
Irvine Valley moves on to play at No. 2 Mt. San Antonio next Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Irvine Valley advanced thanks to a solid second half on Saturday.
The Lasers trailed, 2-1, at halftime.
Chaffey took a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute. Oscar Casillas-Palomar scored on a header off a pass from Juan Aguilar.
The Lasers leveled the score in the 38th minute. Freshman midfielder Tommaso Covino sent a free kick into the box from 30 yards out. Freshman midfielder Kristian Sabatino was able to deflect the ball into the back of the net. It was the perfect time for Sabatino's first goal of the season.
But the Panthers went back up on top just before the end of the first half. Brian Luna played a ball forward to Alec Hooper and he was able to get in on goal and score.
The Lasers stormed back in the second half. They took the first five shots of the second half and scored on the fifth one.
Freshman defender Mathew Davis knocked in a cross from Covino in the 59th minute to make it a 2-2 match. Davis also knotted his first goal of the year.
And a little more than 10 minutes later, Irvine Valley took the lead for good. Freshman forward Grant Joyce scored on a free kick that got past Chaffey keeper Oscar Carbajal.
Chaffey tried to tie the game late, but had a goal called back after an offisdes call.
Irvine Valley put the game away in extra time. IVC freshman forward Eder Olivas corralled a short punt by the Panther keeper and then quickly lofted it over his head and into the net. It was Olivas' team-leading 11th goal of the season.
IVC freshman goalie Braden Peters made three saves on the day for IVC, which moves on.
The Lasers also played Mt. SAC in last year's playoffs. The two teams met in a regional final with Mt. SAC pulling out a 3-2 win in a tightly contested match at Mt. SAC.
