The Lady Rattlers did what no other team in the district could. Heading into the locker room at halftime, they were tied, 0-0, with Lake Travis, the school who holds the first-place spot in District 26-6A. No other team has held the Lady Cavaliers to a scoreless first half throughout the entire season.
“They came after us,” head coach Jason Carnley said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the district and we shut them down at half, 0-0, and no one’s done that in our whole district, no one’s done that the whole season to them and for us to do that, that’s a fantastic job.”
The Lady Rattlers had some of that momentum after halftime, but ultimately, they fell to the Lake Travis, 3-0, on Thursday night at San Marcos Toyota Rattler Stadium.
It was a battle throughout the entire first half and there was a lot of energy coming from both teams. Lake Travis made multiple shot attempts, including one in the first two minutes of the game, but the ball wasn’t making it to the back of the net. San Marcos sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Tims had many saves throughout the night, including an impressive deflection where she punched the ball right out of the side of the goal.
San Marcos (6-10, 3-10 district) didn’t have as many looks at the goal, but there was an attempt from senior Isabel Duenez with 15 minutes left in the half.
As his team was heading into the locker room at halftime, it was obvious how excited Carnley was. He yelled a loud “whoop” as the team walked together.
“I was super excited, more for them,” Carnley said. “We can get loud and we can get proud about those things, and I want them to see it from me, too. You know, if I’m excited, maybe they’ll be doing the same thing, and they were. It was awesome.”
Coming into the second half, the Lady Rattlers had the same amount of energy and Tims had a few saves early on. The defense was working hard, and they were able to hold off the Cavaliers until the 27 minute mark where they scored their first goal.
Lake Travis (17-1-2, 13-0 district) rallied late in the game to secure their win. They scored their second goal with five minutes remaining on the clock, and their third just before the game ended.
All of the Cavaliers’ goals came from right in front of the net and it was as if they were playing human pinball. Carnley was displeased with how these goals went in the net, but nonetheless, he’s proud of the way his team played compared to the last time they faced Lake Travis.
“Trash goals,” Carnley said. “They were ugly, they were just, all of them, right in front of the goal and it was just a mosh pit. So, if we were able to hold those three trash goals that whole game … we did our job tonight, really good. (Last time it was) 8-0, compared to 3-0, which, technically, probably should’ve been 0-0. Honestly, fantastic turnaround, there’s good things for our program.”
The Lady Rattlers faced the Austin Westlake Chaparrals in their final game of the season on Friday at 6 p.m. inside San Marcos Toyota Rattler Stadium. Carnley hoped that his team would come out with the same energy to send the seniors off on a positive note.
“It’s time to get ready for the future,” Carnley said. “Send these seniors out the best way you can and have this new youth come in and see what we’re capable of doing. What we did tonight, if we can do it tomorrow, man, our future’s gonna be bright.”
