By Mary Pavlu, Globe Correspondent

The Charlestown girls team has yet to win its first soccer game, while East Boston has already won three. It was hard to predict both teams’ records by watching Tuesday’s game, however.

Despite East Boston’s 5-0 win, the skills of each team were even for most of the match.

The game had a slow start, with constant fighting over the ball in the middle of the field. East Boston coach Richard La Cara was not pleased, sending in six subs within the first 10 minutes.

“The first half was sluggish,” said La Cara. “We started off flat-footed. We definitely came in here unprepared, which is my fault, I didn’t get the team pumped up enough for the game. But I pulled some players out and put some others in.”

East Boston was up by three at the end of the first half, but gained more momentum in the second, especially with the help of freshman forward Mariah Roberts.

She had great control of the ball, and once powered down the field, passed two defenders, and scored. Roberts also had a gorgeous assist to sophomore midfielder Ruth Rivas in another strong run.

Roberts refused to take individual credit, saying it was a team effort.

“We worked as a team,” she said. “We played with a lot of teamwork and we communicated with each other.”

With only 10 players, Charlestown played hard, which the score does not reflect. Sophomore forward Sara Centeio was a strong force and utilized great footwork to get around East Boston defenders. She took many shots on goal, including one penalty kick, but none were successful.

East Boston sophomore goalkeeper Brittany Brancato provided the shutout.

“They responded in the second half pretty well,” La Cara said. “We worked on a couple things in practice this whole week and it showed in the game. When they tried, we took control of the game. I’m happy with that. It’s a nice building block to go off of.

Mary Pavlu covers Boston Public school athletics. She can be reached at Mary.Pavlu@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryPavlu