Huntington Beach, Calif. - Golden West men's soccer (1-2-5, 0-0-1) opened Orange Empire Conference play with a tie against Irvine Valley (5-2-1, 0-0-1), 1-1. 

For the first conference matchup of the season, the Rustlers visited the No. 17 Lasers on Tuesday, September 26th. The physical faceoff saw many opportunities for both sides throughout the 90 minutes. Golden West managed to place five shots on goal off of 12 chances while Irvine Valley put nine shots on goal from 19 shots. 

Just before half, the Lasers broke through on the scoreboard as they scored the game's first goal at the 42nd minute. As time neared the final whistle, Golden West continued the pressure and earned a great opportunity. Off of a foul call, Francisco Vieira setup for a free kick. In the 78th minute, he tied the game with a huge goal to knot the game at one apiece. The score would stay the same as both sides would tie in their conference opener, 1-1. 

Vieira scored the first Rustler conference goal of the season with his boot off of a foul kick as he accumulated two shots and scored one. Jesus Melgoza also had two shots with one being on goal to add pressure against the Lasers. In the net, Daniel Barragan held the No. 17 Irvine Valley offense to one goal as he saved eight on the day.

NEXT UP: Golden West will be back home to host their first conference game of the season against Santiago Canyon on Friday, September 29th. Kickoff will be at 3pm.