Lake Travis pushed players forward with limited time left, looking to steal a draw in the dying moments of their game against varsity girls soccer Friday night. Repeated crosses into the Westlake box were cleared away, and the Chaps maintained their early lead to defeat the Cavaliers 1-0.

“We couldn’t relax,” head coach Darci Carruthers said. “We couldn’t let them have any space. It was about maintaining our high intensity and pressure. We were able to implement our game plan, which was to not let them think and not to even let them breathe.”

The Chaps took the lead with three minutes to go in the first half through a near-post volley from midfielder sophomore Addie Hackney. Before this, the game had been dictated by the midfield with sparse chances at goal. The breakthrough just before the break gave the girls the momentum they needed for the remainder of the match.

“Going ahead first just made us stronger,” Carruthers said. “We wanted to make sure we locked the game in. We’ve lost 1-0 and 2-0 leads before, so I’m proud of the complete game that the girls put out tonight.”

Seven shots, four of which were on target, were sent towards the Lake Travis net, with only one of them being the defining goal. On the other end, goalkeeper senior Claire Schaffer had a relatively quiet night, occasionally having to make stops when the Cavaliers found opportunities at goal.

Being a rivalry game, and especially after a disappointing first match, the Chaps played with an extra motivation that pushed them to victory.

“We did it for our seniors and our captains,” Carruthers said. “Last time we played them, we let the game slip. We were up 2-0, and we ended up tying 2-2. This win meant a little bit more. We took the full game seriously — all 80 minutes.”