The Irvine Valley men's soccer team got its Orange Empire Conference season off to a great start and continued on its run of solid play Tuesday afternoon at home.
The Lasers defeated rival Santa Ana, 1-0, to improve their record to 6-3-1 overall.
After starting the year 0-3 against three of the best teams in the state, Irvine Valley is unbeaten in its last seven matches with six victories.
Over those last seven contests, Irvine Valley has out-scored opponents, 22-5, and has recorded four shutouts.
"It wasn't our best game today," IVC Coach Conor Ward said. "But it was an inspired performance against a team that was co-champions last year. It is always a battle against Santa Ana and a hard-fought game. We still came away with a win and a clean sheet."
The Dons attacked early and had two early shots in the box, but IVC freshman goalie Tygo Steenvoorden turned them both away.
The Lasers settled in and went back forth with Santa Ana for the rest of the first half.
Irvine Valley found its lead in the 33rd minute on a set piece.
A corner kick ended up with IVC's freshman standout center back Lennart Granzow flicking a header over the Santa Ana keeper. The assist went to freshman forward Jefreyn Contreras.
Irvine Valley stayed the course and behind Steenvoorden, and the back line led by captain Steven Osuna, kept Santa Ana from scoring.
"Lennart stood out today," Ward said. "He is improving game by game and Tygo, our goalkeeper, always brings a level of calm. I think Jacob Edwards had great moments of quality too. He causes problems for the opposition wherever you play him in the field."
Ward in his first year as head coach of the Lasers, continues to inspire in what has been a great run to open the 2022 season. IVC plays at Orange Coast on Friday in another conference match at 3 p.m.
"As long as we have the commitment, desire and attitude that we had today, we are going to do well going forward," Ward said.
