Offense prevails in Lasers home opener
On Sept. 4, Irvine Valley came out one step ahead and one goal above San Diego Mesa College in the team’s home opener.The Lasers recorded their second win of the season with the 3-2 victory.
“We expect all of our players to excel on the field and in the classroom, and all of our players have high potential,” said Lasers head coach Martin McGrogan. “We always have high expectations. We work hard and if you look at our record, we’re normally top five or six in the state.”
The Lasers started off aggressively Tuesday, spending a majority of their time on the offensive attack. Despite generating numerous scoring opportunities, they struggled to find a rhythm, as they were tagged for off sides on most of their early attempts to spring their forwards.
After San Diego Mesa fended off a well-placed corner kick by the Lasers, freshman forward Joseph Giubardo opened up the scoring for the Olympians.
Giubardo received a pass wide on the right side, which gave him just enough space to beat Laser’s keeper Mikhail Radchuk on a hard low kick to the left corner of the net with 34:17 left in the first half.
IVC scored the equalizer with 31:30 left in the first half when freshman forward Corey Cordray lobbed a nifty over the shoulder pass just out of reach for the Olympians defenders and onto the foot of freshman forward Bruno Sad, who beat Mesa’s keeper on the breakaway with a shot into the right of the net.
The Lasers gained the lead in the 29th minute on a hard-fought goal by Cordray, who was stopped by Olympians goalkeeper Zackary McPheeters on his first effort, but then gathered his own rebound and put it home past McPheeters.
San Diego Mesa retaliated early in the second half when sophomore midfielder Marco Baltazar put a left footed shot on net that trickled past Radchuk.
Cordray scored the eventual game winner six minutes later when he gathered a loose ball in the box and blasted it past McPheeters.
With the win, the Lasers record improves to 2-2-0.”We play in one of the best conferences in the state,” Mc Grogan said. “Every game is competitive and we are very proud of our record.”
On Tuesday, Sept. 20, Irvine will travel to Rio Hondo College. The game starts at 4 p.m.