The Irvine Valley men’s soccer team lost another tough one Friday at home.

JT Thompson scored with two minutes left to lift Golden West to the victory and keep the Rustlers in the hunt for the Orange Empire Conference title. It was Golden West’s fifth straight victory. The Rustlers improved their record to 10-7-1 overall and 8-3-1 in conference.

The defeat was Irvine Valley’s fourth by one-goal in conference play. The loss dropped Irvine Valley’s record to 3-11-4 overall and 1-8-3 in conference.

With just two minutes left in the match, Edgar Hernandez was able to get his head on a corner kick and send the ball to Thompson, who blasted a shot high and up the middle for the goal.
It was Thompson’s sixth goal of the season.

Both teams had several good chances to take control in the second half.

Hernandez had a hard shot on goal that IVC goalie Kurt Bond made a diving stop on with 16 minutes to play, the ball bounced to Thompson in front of the net, but he sent his one-time shot wide.

A minute later on a counter attack, IVC’s Andy Martinez hit a shot that hit off the near post and then off GWC goalie Bill Hambleton before going out of bounds.

With 13 minutes left, Miguel hit a high shot that Hambleton was able to get a hand on and knock over the top of the goal.

Golden West’s Austin Rovazzinni had an opportunity on a header off a corner kick, but Bond made the save.

And Bond made another save on a low, hard shot to the corner by Jose de la Cruz with eight minutes to go.

Bond finished with six saves in goal for the Lasers, who next play Tuesday at Santa Ana at 3 p.m.