Tying for the No. 10 position in Irvine Valley athletics top 10 stories of the 2013-14 school year was the special season turned in by the Laser women's soccer team.
IVC had a break through season, competing with some of the best teams in Southern California and just missing out on the Southern California Regional Playoffs.
Last season showed that great things are in store for the women's soccer program at IVC in coming years.
The Irvine Valley women's soccer team concluded one of the best seasons in school history in 2013.
The Lasers ended with a record 11-7-2 overall, finished fifth in the tough Orange Empire Conference and just missed the So. Cal. Regional Playoffs.
They were also ranked in the state poll at one point this season.
Head coach Joe Supe and assistants Peter Carey and Jacqueline Turner led the turnaround.
Sophomore forward Yasmin Hart was named the team's most valuable player at the end of the campaign. Hart led the team with eight goals, tied for first in assists with four and paced the team in points with 20.
She ranked eighth in the conference in goals and tied for fourth in assists.
Sophomore midfielder/defender Kelly Cox, sophomore defender Madisen Hammonds, sophomore midfielders Wendy Rendon and Kelsi Chrzan, freshman defenders Amanda George, Celina Chang, Samantha Mendoza and Emely Portillo, freshman midfielder Kristen Ostler and freshman forward Tiana Salazar played vital roles all season.
Hammonds and Cox were team captains. Hammonds was given the coaches award at the end of the year banquet. She finished with three goals and two assists and was a leader on the field all season for the Lasers. She had two goals in a 4-1 win at Santa Ana.
Defense was a big strength as the Lasers gave up just 32 goals in 20 matches and posted six shutouts. They gave up just one goal in a game six other times.
Supe said he was proud of the team's effort all season long. And he is already excited about the 2014 campaign. IVC will have a number of important returning players, including Chang, Ostler, Portillo and Salazar along with a strong incoming freshmen class.
*In leading up to the start of the 2014-15 athletics campaign at Irvine Valley, which starts on Aug. 25 with women's volleyball, the Laser athletic department will countdown the top 10 IVC sports stories from the 2013-14 school year.
The countdown will begin on Thursday, Aug. 7 with the No. 10 story of the year and work its way down to No. 1 on Thursday, Aug. 21.
Some of the top stories in the running for the top 10 include special seasons by the women's soccer, men's tennis, women's volleyball and women's sand volleyball teams along with individual accolades earned by several IVC athletes for hard work both on the playing fields and courts and in the classroom.
