Irvine Valley men's soccer coach Conor Ward was not too happy about his team's performance in the first half on Tuesday afternoon in an Orange Empire Conference contest against Santiago Canyon.
The Laser players listened and got to work in the second half, dominating play and possession.
IVC scored five goals, including three by freshman forward Grant Miller, in the second half and defeated Santiago Canyon, 6-1.
The win moved Irvine Valley into second place in the conference standings behind Fullerton. IVC went to 10-5-4 overall and 5-2-3 in the conference.
Santiago Canyon moved to 5-11-1 overall and 1-9-0 in the OEC.
"I spoke at halftime about the standards that we have set throughout the season and in the first half we did not meet them," Ward said. "I told our players that we can definitely be better and we did. In the second half, we showed what we can be. It was a frustrating first half, but we got the response we wanted from the players after.
"It is another good home win for us as we get down to the end of the season."
Miller continued his fine year. He scored three more goals for the Lasers and improved his totals to 12 goals and 28 points on the year. Both numbers lead the conference.
Miller scored all three of his goals in the second half and added an assist.
"Obviously Grant stood out again," Ward said. "Grant is the kind of kid that has that game in him. He is so composed."
Miller assisted on the game winner for the Lasers three minutes into the second half, finding freshman forward Christopher Camarena for a score to put IVC ahead, 2-1.
He then found the back of the net in the 54th minute, 75th minute and 84th minute to put the Lasers ahead, 5-1.
His third and final goal was a knuckleball shot from long range that dipped under the crossbar and beat the SCC keeper.
Irvine Valley finished its scoring in the 87th minute on a header by freshman defender Sean Burdick off of a corner kick from freshman forward Martin Fabatia.
"I was really proud of the way the boys finished," Ward said.
IVC fell behind early on as Santiago Canyon scored in the 13th minute.
The Lasers responded in the 15th minute when sophomore forward Adem Toskic tipped in a ball hit into the box by by sophomore defender Diego Llergo.
Irvine Valley pressured the rest of the first half and then took over in the final 45 minutes.
Freshman IVC keeper Tygo Steenvoorden ended with four saves on the day.
"Every game is important in the conference and all we can do is try to win as many as we can, especially at home," Ward said. "Come to the end of the season, we will see where that leaves us. There still might be some twists and turns."
The Lasers finish the regular season with two more contests and against two of the best teams in the league. Irvine Valley is at Golden West on Friday at 3 p.m. and then plays host to Fullerton on Nov. 8 at 3 p.m.
