Good times away from home have come so few and far between for the Ventura County Fusion that this moment could only be punctuated by a good, on-field dog pile.

Substitutes Mark Draycott and Michael Farfan scored in the final eight minutes as the Fusion completed a frantic comeback to transform its playoff aspirations with a stirring 3-2 victory over the Orange County Blue Star on Wednesday night at Concordia University in Irvine.

"It's a big win," said Fusion assistant Rudy Ybarra. "We're finding that, in this league, it's very difficult to win away from home."

The Fusion, which entered the game with just two wins in eight matches away from home, improved to 28 points (9-4-1) in 14 matches to leapfrog the Fresno Fuego into second place in the PDL's Southwest Division.

With two matches remaining, it trails the league-leading San Fernando Valley Quakes by one point.

The Fusion welcomed back UCLA winger Jason Leopoldo, who missed 13 matches after foot surgery, into the starting lineup and coach Graham Smith elected to start with leading scorer Draycott on the bench.

"We've missed him," said Ybarra of Leopoldo, the Thousand Oaks product. "He created some great chances."

Defender Brad Rusin headed the Fusion into a 1-0 halftime lead off John Alcaraz's 38th-minute corner.

Orange County roared back in the second half behind midfielder Sen Lopez, who created goals by Scott Larrabee and Matt Murphy six minutes apart.

"We came out in the second half a little flat and, all of a sudden, we were down 2-1," said Ybarra.

It looked like the team's 10th one-goal game of the season would be yet another road wart, before two substitute saved the day.

With eight minutes to play, Draycott, who came on in the 70th minute, knotted the game with eight minutes to play, slotting home from the top of the penalty area off Alcaraz's second assist of the day.

Oxnard College sophomore Gabe Chavez set up in stoppage-time winner. His cross was stabbed over the line by Farfan, setting off a wild celebration which included the visiting bench erupting onto the field.

"It was wild," said assistant coach Ross Greaney.

— Joe Curley reported from Ventura County.