East Lyme - The opposing coach, Waterford's Chris Ghiglia, said it seemed as if East Lyme was playing its 12th or 13th game of the season instead of its first.

East Lyme, despite seeing its lead cut to one goal with 22 and a half minutes remaining Thursday, was poised and polished, retaining the ALS Cup with a 3-1 victory over defending Class M champion Waterford in a high school girls' soccer game played annually among the rivals.

"Their movement off the ball," said Ghiglia of what he liked best about his opponent. "Their commitment to support each other."

"They are awesome," East Lyme coach Rachel Redding said, asked what she favors about her own team. "They work so hard day in and day out … they know it's not just given to them. Their will to change and develop as players. … We seemed like we had the advantage in the first half and that's a great thing and maybe a bad thing. At halftime we told them 'Don't give up. Play like you're down 1-0.' And they did."

Theresa Durkee, the Vikings' junior center midfielder, scored twice. Her first goal made it 1-0 East Lyme with 22:45 left in the half and the Vikings scored again six minutes later on a goal by Haley Ashton assisted by Samantha Lee for what would remain a 2-0 lead at halftime.

In the second half, as Redding predicted, Waterford came out firing. Claire Hurley, a junior returning all-state selection, slammed a shot into the top right post nine minutes in. It was also Hurley who created the Lancers' goal, cutting a swath through the defense to take a shot against East Lyme goalie Gabby Fiengo. Fiengo stopped the shot, but the rebound kicked out to Jessica Harpell, who converted the goal to pull Waterford within 2-1.

Just as soon as the Lancers appeared to have momentum, though, East Lyme's Durkee chipped a ball which made it just off the fingertips off Waterford goalie Jordan Kovacs, putting the Vikings back up by a more comfortable two-goal margin.

Fiengo made a sliding stop on a breakaway by Waterford freshman Jaclyn Lavoie with four minutes to go.

"We came out with the right spirit," said Ghiglia, in his first season with the Lancers (0-1-1) after coaching previously at St. Bernard, of the second half. "We tried to put some pressure on them. Their third goal was a killer. … This was one of our toughest weeks of the season right off the bat. We're only playing five returning starters from last year. We have a lot of things to kind of work on."

East Lyme was 18-4 last season and won the Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament. The Vikings' "only" loss from their starting lineup was all-stater Meredith Moore.

Durkee, meanwhile, has been a member of the varsity roster since her freshman season and has a knack for scoring just when East Lyme needs her, Redding said.

"It seems like the girls picked up right where we left off," Redding said. "We work a lot on off the ball play. We're trying to get it so that it's seamless, but it takes time. We had our moments of panic, but we regrouped."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday