In a battle for second place in the Orange Empire Conference, neither the Irvine Valley men’s soccer team nor Santiago Canyon took the upper hand Tuesday afternoon.
The two teams, which went into the contest tied for second place in the conference, played to a 0-0 draw.
Irvine Valley out-shot Santiago Canyon, 14-8, but only four of IVC’s shots were on goal in the match.
The Lasers nearly scored in the opening minutes of the game, but sophomore defender Darren Whitty’s header flew over the crossbar.
In the 12th minute, IVC midfielder Scott Gressard banged a shot from the right side over the top of the goal.
The best chance for either team was in the 42nd minute when IVC sophomore forward Erik Van Der Meulen got a step on a defender and went one on one with Santiago Canyon goalie Alan Orriny.
But Orriny was up for the challenge, making a diving save on Van Der Meulen’s shot from 12 yards out.
The Lasers had a few chances in the second half – none better than freshman midfielder Jack Plummer’s lefty shot from just inside the top of the box that Orriny deflected and then fell on right in front of the goal line.
Santiago Canyon’s Carlos Chavez almost gave Santiago Canyon the lead. He took the ball deep into the IVC box, beating two defenders, but couldn’t get off a shot at close range.
The match ended with Radchuk making a save on a header by Santiago Canyon’s Nathanial Muraki.
Both Radchuk and Orriny made four saves in the contest.
“It was a tough game,” Irvine Valley Coach Martin McGrogan said. “I give Santiago Canyon a lot of credit. They played well. I thought we had some very good chances, but we just didn’t put the ball on target enough. We worked hard and at least deserved the point today.”
IVC could have used more than a point. Santa Ana defeated Orange Coast, 2-1, on Tuesday to increase its lead in the conference standings (three points are earned for a conference victory).
Irvine Valley (10-4-3, 5-2-3) and Santiago Canyon (10-3-4, 5-2-3) each now sit seven points behind Santa Ana for first place in conference. Santa Ana improved its conference mark to 8-1-1 with the win over Orange Coast.
IVC takes on Orange Coast on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Irvine Valley in a game that is a make-up contest from last Friday.
Irvine Valley then plays at Golden West on Friday.