The Irvine Valley men’s soccer team couldn’t make up any ground in the Orange Empire Conference standings Tuesday afternoon at home.

The Lasers, which went into Tuesday, in third place, lost to second-place Fullerton, 1-0, on a goal in the final two minutes.

Fullerton freshman midfielder Jose Preciado scored in the 88th minute on a free kick taken on the left side of the field from about 30 yards out.

He lofted the free kick toward the right side of the goal. IVC sophomore keeper Mikhail Radchuk leapt for the ball and got a hand on it, but his deflection sent it into the net.

The final whistle blew about two minutes later.

The win kept Fullerton right on the heels of Santa Ana for first place in the conference. Fullerton improved its record to 12-3-3 overall and 6-1-2 in conference. It has 20 points overall. Santa Ana entered Tuesday’s action with 19 points.

Irvine Valley (7-7-2, 5-4-0) still has 15 points. IVC went into the day tied with Orange Coast for third place in the standings.

On Tuesday, both Irvine Valley and Fullerton had two good chances to score in the first half. The opportunities kept coming for the Hornets in the final 45 minutes.

Preciado hit a shot in the 54th minute that Radchuk tipped away and in the 60th minute, Radchuk dove and knocked away a little chip shot in the box by Andres Morillon.

Several minutes later, Preciado hit the crossbar with a shot from just outside the top of the box.

IVC’s best chance came in the 75th minute when Bruno Sad sent a low, hard shot on target, but Fullerton keeper Eduardo Gutierrez was there to make the save.

Fullerton out-shot Irvine Valley, 11-8, in the contest.