Irvine Valley held possession most of the way and was ahead, 2-0, heading into the last 13 minutes of regulation in its key Orange Empire Conference match Tuesday against Golden West at home.
But the Rustlers scored two goals to tie things up before regulation ended and then scored in extra time to pull out a 3-2 win over the Lasers.
The victory improved Golden West's record to 9-5 overall and 6-1 in conference play, while second-place Golden West improved to 5-3-4 overall and 5-0-2 in the OEC.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday, starting the second round of conference play at Orange Coast at 3 p.m.
IVC had won six in a row and nine of its last 10 matches heading into Tuesday.
And the Lasers looked like the were headed for another victory.
Freshman defender Michael Baumgaertel scored on a free kick in the 28th minute to give IVC a 1-0 lead.
And Irvine Valley went ahead, 2-0, early in the second half when freshman midfielder Cade Williams took a deflected pass and found the back of the net.
The Lasers had a few other chances, but as the game moved into the latter stages, it was the Golden West squad that took charge.
The Rustlers got on the board in the 77th minute on a goal by Demian Buenrostro. They tied the contest in the 90th minute on a goal by Roger Reyes in front of the net off a cross from Pedro Flores.
And Golden West took the lead for good a few minutes into extra time when Alvaro Mendoza headed in a cross from the left side from Luis Cano.
IVC tried to make a few final runs, but clock ran out.
Irvine Valley freshman goalie Sansiro Murata ended up making six saves on the afternoon.
