TEX BOYS: Upset! Lake Travis Stuns McNeil in OT, 7-6

Junior attackman Andreas Soto scored the game-winning goal midway through overtime to give Division II Lake Travis a stunning, come-from-behind, 7-6 upset victory over Division I McNeil in a Texas High School Lacrosse League Central District game Saturday afternoon.

Soto scored on a bounce-shot from about 12 yards to give Lake Travis (1-0) its first-ever victory against a Division I program in its season opener.

“We certainly weren’t expecting to win,” Lake Travis assistant coach Mike Galvin said. “We were expecting to keep it close.”

Sophomore middie Jack Fanning finished with a game-high five points on a goal and four assists, and Soto had three points on a goal and two assists. Sophomore middie Talon Ceshker and sophomore attackman Doug McPhaul each scored twice, and freshman middie Hunter Harrison has a goal to round out the scoring for the second-year varsity Cavaliers, who were facing a Division I team for the first time in program history.

Defensively, freshman goalie Joey Snyder saved 13 shots, including a critical one-on-one stop in the final minute that kept the game tied.

“Joey Snyder showed up in a huge way, and that made a big difference for us,” Galvin said.

In defeat, senior middie Tyler Downing scored a game-high three goals for McNeil (0-1), which lost its season opener.

It appeared McNeil would cruise to an expected easy victory early, but Lake Travis hung around until the fourth quarter and gained confidence as they continued to keep it tight. The Mavericks never trailed until they conceded the game’s final goal.

McNeil led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter, 3-1 at halftime and 4-3 going into the fourth quarter.

The Mavericks led 6-5 late in regulation, but Ceshker scored with 1:15 remaining to force the extra session. That’s when Soto struck for his only goal of the game to give Lake Travis the first monumental upset of the high school lacrosse season and set off a wild celebration.

“The truth is, a lot of our younger guys are our best players,” Galvin said. “All the players who have gone through our youth program are now freshmen and sophomores. Having the same group being a year older makes a difference.”