Men's soccer team wins playoff opener
Nov 17, 2007
It took a little while, but the Irvine Valley men's soccer team eventually won its Southern California Regional Playoff opener Saturday afternoon at home.
Irvine Valley scored a goal with about five minutes left to pull out a 1-0 win over East Los Angeles and move on to the second round.
I thought the boys played a very disciplined game," IVC Coach Martin McGrogan said. "They kept taking their chances. The game was scoreless for a long time, but they never panicked. It was a good win against a talented team."
The Lasers, who are seeded fifth in the playoffs, will now take on Palomar on Tuesday at home.
Palomar, which was seeded 13th, upset fourth-seeded Rio Hondo, 2-0, on Saturday at Rio Hondo.
The win improved Irvine Valley's record to 14-4-4 on the season. The Lasers are unbeaten in their last nine matches (seven wins and two ties).
Irvine Valley also has a record of 8-1-1 at home this season.
The Lasers were knocked out by East Los Angeles in the second round of the playoffs at home two years ago. The game ended on penalty kicks.
Saturday's match looked like it might be headed that way again.
Irvine Valley had plenty of opportunities in the first half, including several on corner kick chances.
One of IVC's best chances to score came in the second half when freshman forward Ashley Cattermole had a good look from about six yards out, but he blasted a shot over the top of the goal.
But the Lasers finally got on the board in the 85th minute. Sophomore midfielder Mark Shadrack lofted a perfect ball on a corner kick and sophomore defender Christian Correa-Henscke out-leaped the defense to head it into the back of the net.
It was Correa-Henscke's first goal of the season.
Correa-Henscke also helped anchor a stingy IVC defense that didn't give East LA that many good chances on goal. The Huskies best opportunity was at the start of the second half when Miguel Angel Parra sent a shot from near the top of the box off the side post.
IVC goalie Mikhail Radchuk had to make just three saves on the day.
"It is a good start (to the playoffs for us)," McGrogan said. "We hope to keep it going."