The Irvine Valley women’s soccer team played to its third tie in its last four games Thursday afternoon in the squad’s final game of the 2007 season.

The Lasers battled back from a 1-0 deficit to earn a 1-1 draw with Saddleback at Irvine Valley.

The teams played an even first half.

Saddleback (9-9-3, 7-6-3) took the lead midway through the second half when Ashlyan Rodriguez beat IVC keeper Lupe Jimenez with a shot. The assist went to Ashley Novak.

The Lasers answered with a goal about five minutes later. Freshman forward Taylor Hoesterey’s sent a cross in on a corner kick. The ball found its way to freshman midfielder Angie Guzman, who knocked it in.

It was Guzman’s first goal of the season and Hoesterey’s third assist.

“I thought the team showed great character to come back,” IVC Coach Simon Davies said. “Having it be the last game, and then falling behind, they could have shut it down, but the girls kept playing hard. They played well. They deserved to get something out of this.”

Jimenez made three saves in the contest. The freshman keeper finished with a solid 1.95 goals against average on the season in 17 matches played.

The Lasers finished the year with a record of 2-14-4 overall and 2-10-4 in conference. Irvine Valley also ended up in seventh place in the final conference standings out of nine teams. The Lasers placed ninth in conference the past three seasons.

“We are making strides,” Davies said. “We had six games this year with positive results and with a little luck could have had a couple of more wins. We won just one game last season. We lose just three sophomores this year, so we should have a good nucleus back. With a good recruiting class we could be a pretty good team next year.”