The 2023 Irvine Valley men's soccer schedule has been released.
The full schedule for the Lasers, guided by second-year head coach Conor Ward, can be seen here
Irvine Valley will start the campaign with a scrimmage against Palomar on Fri., Aug. 18 at 2 p.m. at home.
And the Lasers will officially kick off the year with a home match against El Camino at 3 p.m. on Tues., Aug. 29.
Irvine Valley opens its 14-match Orange Empire Conference schedule against Golden West on Tues., Sept. 26 at 3 p.m.
IVC finished with a record of 11-7-5 overall and reached the 3C2A So. Cal. regional playoffs last season.
Irvine Valley had four players named to all-Orange Empire Conference teams in 2022.
Defender Lennart Granzow and forward Grant Miller were each named first team all-OEC and goalie Tygo Steenvoorden and midfielder Julian Svoboda were selected to the second team for IVC.
Ganzow and Miller return for IVC and Svoboda recently signed with NCAA Division II Concordia University to play this fall.
Irvine Valley defeated Antelope Valley, 3-1, in th first round of the playoffs last season before falling to El Camino in the second round.
Granzow was one of the best center backs in the state last season. The freshman from Germany helped IVC record six shutouts this season. He also recorded three goals for six points. All three of his goals were game-winners (against Southwestern, Santa Ana and Antelope Valley).
He later went on to be named all-region.
Miller was the top-goal scorer in the conference. He finished with a conference-best 14 goals and added five assists for a league-high 33 points.
Svoboda, on to Concordia, was a leader and a heart and soul of the Lasers last year. He served meany roles in the midfield, pushing forward and holding back. Svoboda did whatever it took to help IVC.
He played in 23 games and made 22 starts and finished with two goals and 14 assists on the year.
Svoboda, from Germany, finished first in the conference in assists (he doubled the next player in the OEC) and had the fifth-most points in the conference with 18.
He had three assists in a 6-1 win over Imperial Valley on Sept. 20 and recorded two assists against both Southwestern and Cypress.
Ward and his coaching staff also had a very strong recruiting effort over the offseason and he is expecting to bring in quality players that will help the Lasers move forward.