East Lyme — It suddenly dawned on East Lyme’s Alec Kosinski in the waning moments of Monday night’s boys’ soccer game that it was for the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I title.

Kosinski then questioned head coach Paul Christensen what they’d get for winning the division.

“Maybe some cookies or maybe a nice banner,” Kosinski said after Vikings beat Norwich Free Academy 3-0.

“I think we get our names stitched up there (on a banner) to represent our year and our success. So that’s good.”

Kosinski had a goal and two assists for East Lyme (7-4-2, 6-0-1).

NFA (5-6-1, 5-2-1) was the defending division champion.

The teams played to a 2-all tie in their first meeting (Sept. 12). There was no score in the first half of Monday’s contest, although NFA had its chances with much of game played on the East Lyme end.

The Vikings changed their approach in the second half and tried to get Kosinski to the outside.

“(The Wildcats) were attacking with the outside of their defense, and so they really had two defenders staying in the back,” Christensen said. “And if Alec got caught in the middle, he was unable to get the ball. So by getting him outside, we forced the defense to stretch, which created seams the kids could run through, and then opportunities could be created.”

Kosinski scored East Lyme’s first goal and did it with a soft touch, tapping the ball and getting it to hook right and roll into the net at 52:09.

“It was a small touch, but it was effective” Kosinski said.

Christensen said, “One of the outstanding qualities about him is that he doesn’t need the ball to ripple the back of the net. He’s happy just passing into the net, and that’s what good goal scorers do. They’re not looking to rip the ball 90 miles an hour. They’re looking to pass into the net. It crosses the line as a point. You don’t get extra points for rattling the net.”

Moments later, Kosinski took a direct free kick just past the 30-yard line. The ball curved towards the right side of the net, where senior Conrad French headed the ball in.

Senior Jack Seibel scored on a pass from Kosinski with less than seven minutes remaining.

“It was two different halves,” NFA head coach Rob Briones said. “We made two huge mistakes and that cost us the game. We lost the momentum we had in the first half and it changed the whole complexion of the game.”

n.griffen@theday.com