The Irvine Valley women's soccer team earned a hard-fought draw with Orange Coast last Friday on the road.
It was one of the squad's best results of the season.
But IVC couldn't build on that momentum on Tuesday afternoon at home.
The Lasers gave up a goal midway through the first half and ended up falling to Santa Ana, 1-0, in an Orange Empire Conference contest.
It was Irvine Valley's fifth one-goal loss of the season.
Irvine Valley's record slipped to 0-7-3 overall and 0-2-2 in conference.
Santa Ana improved its record to 6-3-0 overall and 3-1-0 in conference.
The Dons scored the lone goal of the game in the 29th minute. Ariana Figueroa sent a pass in from the left side and Linda Gutierrez found the back of the net with a shot.
Irvine Valley had several solid chances, especially on crosses into the box by sophomore forwards Luci Bernal and Brenda Chopin and freshman defender Savanna Hayes.
Hayes' cross in the final minutes found sophomore midfielder Catherine Pineda in the box, but she wasn't able to get a good foot on it.
Freshman defender Angela Hernandez also sent a lofting free kick into the box in the second half, however Santa Ana keeper Breana Martinez was able to knock the ball away.
Martinez finished with five saves on the afternoon, while Irvine Valley freshman goalie Marissa Banos had three saves.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday, traveling to Cypress for a 3 p.m. conference contest.
