Old Lyme - Opening day for the Old Lyme High School boys' soccer team got off to a promising start Tuesday as senior Rowan Hallahan scored 20 minutes into the game against Hale-Ray.

The Wildcats didn't score again, which was fine because they shut out the Noises 1-0 in a Shoreline Conference contest.

Still, Old Lyme had so many opportunities to score, but couldn't get comfortable without adding to its lead.

"I think, to some extent, we backed off a little bit," Wildcats coach Marc Venditti said. "We were trying to protect the lead for whatever reason, which is not what we talked about at halftime. We talked about pressing and putting a fork in it, but we weren't able to do that."

Old Lyme took 16 shots, a few of which clanged off the crossbar during the second half.

"Oh, yeah, we hit the crossbars a couple of times," Hallahan said. "We didn't really capitalize on rebounds. I was just smiling and kind of laughing. I didn't know what to say."

Danny Reid assisted on Hallahan's goal. Jack Linares had nine saves for Hale-Ray.

"The middle part of that second half, I was worried," Venditti said. "I think you could sense the demeanor of the players. They were just sitting back and almost content to thump it forward rather than playing within the possession like we do. We lost our way there.

"I think we were fortunate to get our three points today. I really do. (The Noises) were starting to get some rhythm to their play, and we were back on our heels, which is where you don't want to be with a 1-nil lead. You want to be assertive and pressing forward and looking for that final killer goal that sort of puts a team away. We didn't find it today. We're happy. We'll take the three points."

Venditti chuckled and added, "It makes my practice planning pretty easy, I tell you that much."

Lest anyone think things look gloomy for the Wildcats, uh-uh. They're loaded with veteran talent and capable of making another run at the CIAC Class S title.

Old Lyme advanced to last year's semifinals before being beaten by Shoreline Conference foe Cromwell 1-0.

"I think we have a great team this year," Hallahan said. "We only lost three seniors and two of them were injured for the whole season. … I'm pretty optimistic, but I'm staying reserved."

Venditti said: "If I were to say one (good) thing about today, more or less, we were relatively organized and compact in the back and we didn't let them slip through. They didn't get any quality chances. Hey, I got a little nervous on some of those corners and set pieces, but other than that, I thought we defended really well as a team, but ... we really need to just be more consistent, whether we're attacking or defending."

n.griffen@theday.com

Twitter: @MetalNED