East Lyme - Something was different about East Lyme, different from the team which struggled to score goals a year ago, winning eight times 1-0.

"They're more men this year," East Lyme High School boys' soccer coach Paul Christensen said. "Last year, I had certain kids holding my hand in the huddle because otherwise they did silly things. They were boys."

James Foster scored three goals Thursday night and East Lyme opened the season with a 7-1 victory over Waterford in the annual ALS Cup matchup. The Vikings led 3-0 at halftime on two goals by Foster and one by Oakwood Academy transfer Nick Ghirardi.

"I paid 'em," Christensen said, joking about the onslaught of goals. "… I was a little bit nervous how they'd come out. First game and we haven't beaten Waterford in two years, three years. Then there it was. All of us got going quick."

East Lyme, the defending Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament champion, also got goals from Vasili Fokaidis, Kyle MacDonnell and Nate Delesdernier, finishing their shots quite nicely, thank you.

Foster opened the scoring on a cross by Lucas Johnson and Ghirardi made it 2-0 with 16 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the first half, heading in the ball off a free kick by Delesdernier. Foster followed six minutes later, hitting the far side of the net on an assist by Ghirardi.

Waterford was 15-1 overall last year and won the ECC Medium Division, but graduated five starters from that team including The Day's All-Area Player of the Year in Aaron Schwartz, now competing at Division I Sacred Heart.

"They've definitely gotten much better," Waterford coach Joe Mendonca Jr., said, crediting East Lyme. "They have some good attacking players. They were bigger and stronger than us.

"It was a good test. It was one of those games. They scored two goals kind of early in the first half and it was a matter of the boys would either respond or not. We're still a work in progress. We did a couple good things and we've got to continue to build on that. (East Lyme has) a good side this year."

East Lyme opened the second half on a loose ball which caromed to Fokaidis in the center of the goal, with him shooting high for a 4-0 lead just 3:27 in. Foster made a deft move from the left side and beat Waterford's goalie to the far post for a 5-0 lead and MacDonnell headed in a shot on an assist from Quinton Parsons to make it 6-0.

Christensen said Foster, for one, was a sophomore last year and somewhat tentative to shoot.

"I think (the ECC tournament title) did spark our confidence, but we knew we had to come back and work even harder," Foster said. "Everybody's contributing, not just one person. It's beautiful soccer. I'm proud to be a part of this team."

Christensen also had a bit of a puzzle on his hands, figuring out where each player belonged in his lineup. Delesdernier, for instance, was the Vikings' leading scorer a year ago at midfield and has now settled in at sweeper.

The Vikings graduated their entire defense, but returned 11 players in all from last year's team.

Said Christensen: "They came together as a team. They've been playing very well together."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday