Stonington — Stonington faced its stiffest challenge so far this season on Thursday.

Coach Paul deCastro was curious to see how the Bears would respond to playing Woodstock Academy in an early-season showdown between two undefeated boys' soccer teams.

Stonington emerged with a hard fought 2-1 victory in Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II action. The Bears improved to 6-0, 3-0.

"They've been a perennial ECC power for many, many years," deCastro said of Woodstock. "They're well-coached and they have a lot of good players, so we were excited to play them. We knew they would be a really good team. I think we played pretty well.

"It was a great game. At 1-1, it really could have gone either way. ... I thought we showed great resiliency. We didn't give up. ... I thought we responded well."

Senior Jack Cullen's late-game strike was the difference.

Capitalizing on a defensive mistake, a hustling Cullen knocked the ball away from goalie Connor Huda and buried a tough-angle shot into the open net with his left foot. The game-winner came with eight minutes, 49 seconds left.

"I made a run, the ball went through and I saw the keeper bobble it," Cullen said. "I just poked it, got free and tapped it in the net. A bit of luck. Hard work and don't stop until it's over."

Stonington's stingy defense did the rest. The Bears allowed just one goal coming into the game, outscoring opponents 21-1. Experienced defenders like junior R.J. Parrilla and seniors Cam Whalen and Will Hardy made life miserable for Woodstock's attacking players, especially talented forward Jacopo Ambrosetti, who had nine goals in his previous four games.

The Bears gave Ambrosetti, an Italian exchange student, the star treatment, surrounding him like paparazzi to Justin Bieber.

Overall, the Centaurs (4-1, 3-1) managed few quality chances and forced goalie Adam Gibbs to make just one save. Their only goal came on Ambrosetti's penalty kick that tied the score at 1-1 with 13:23 remaining.

"We knew he was a good player," deCastro said. "We obviously had numbers around him and wanted  to make it difficult for him to get forward and score goals. He scored a PK but he wasn't as dangerous as I've seen him in other games."

Just five minutes before the penalty kick, the Bears seized a 1-0 lead. Whalen's long throw-in set the play in motion. Junior Graham Johnstone fought off defenders in traffic and deflected the ball across the box to fellow junior Jamison Magowan who unleashed a rocket that found the target.

The high-intensity, well-played game will serve both teams well moving forward.

The Bears should be a team to watch for the remainder of the regular season.

"We work hard together and we have fun together," deCastro said. "They're a lot of fun to be around. There's 10 seniors. They're all great kids and they've been playing together for a long time. They're really good a great job."

g.keefe@theday.com