It was one of those games where just one moment decided the outcome, that moment being a saved shot by goalkeeper senior Gabby Marcus that fell straight into the path of a Lake Travis attacker, who slotted it home to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the second half. They were able to sustain their advantage, and, after an undefeated 4-0 start to its District season, girls varsity soccer dropped its first game to Lake Travis 0-1 at Chaparral Stadium Friday night.

“It was disappointing because I just don’t think we ever got in our rhythm,” head coach Darci Carruthers said. “I don’t think we ever settled into our game. They controlled the pace of the game. We struggled to come out of that.”

The Cavaliers were stout in defense, rendering the Westlake offense, which had scored 16 goal in its previous two games, goalless. Inability to create close range shots attenuated the Chaps’ chances at scoring. Needing a response to the Lake Travis score, Westlake picked up the tempo.

“Once they scored, I think we had a higher energy, but we needed that energy for 80 minutes,” Carruthers said.

The JVA team won its game 1-0 courtesy of a headed goal from central defensive midfielder junior Cristina Pablos. It was the second and final goal of the night amongst all three Westlake teams, with JVB tying 1-1.

“I was really nervous because I thought I was playing poorly in the first half,” Cristina said. “I just went in there and put my head into [the shot], and somehow it reached the goal. It wasn’t that hard, I’m trying to be humble about it.”

As for varsity’s chances at a playoff spot, Carruthers still feels the door is wide open for a District championship.

“It doesn’t affect the district much,” she said. “This was only game five out of 18, so we are still in it. We’ll play [Lake Travis] again at their place, and it’ll be a little bit harder, but we’ll be a little bit more hungry.”