Irvine Valley's women's soccer team is off and running with the 2013 season.
The Lasers pulled off an impressive 1-0 non-conference win at Mt. San Jacinto on Tuesday.
"The girls really made things happen, which was great to see," second-year coach Joe Supe said. "They really wanted to win."
Irvine Valley pulled out the win midway through the second half.
After a scoreless first half, IVC got the lone goal of the match off the foot of freshman forward Tiana Salazar.
After receiving a pass from sophomore midfielder Desirae Santana on the right, Salazar beat several defenders with a turn and then sent a hard shot from just outside the box to the upper left corner of the net.
"It was just a great goal," Supe said. "Tiana has a chance to do some very special things for us this year."
Supe said his team's overall play was special in the second half.
"After a little bit of a shaky first half where we gave up possession, I thought we dominated for the most part in the second half," Supe said. "We missed several other chances to score."
Supe said Santana and sophomore midfielder Kelly Cox along with freshman midfielder Celina Chang were among those that created opportunities.
Sophomore Emma Connelly (Northwood High) started in goal and freshman Shannon Duffy (Irvine High) played the second half in the net.
Supe's starting lineup included Connelly, sophomores Madisen Hammonds, Wendy Rendon, Cox, Kelsi Chrzan and Yasmin Hart (Irvine High) and freshmen Emely Portillo, Amanda George, Shantel Romero, Zuleyka Ruiz and Salazar.
"I thought overall it was an incredible performance," Supe said. "Now we want to build on this and keep going."
Irvine Valley plays at San Diego City today at 3 p.m.
The Lasers play their first official home match of the season next Tuesday against Palomar at 3 p.m.
