Old Lyme — There’s a new rule in high school soccer this season whereby the clock is stopped when the winning team makes substitutions with five minutes left in the game.

Old Lyme team had just gotten through making a few late substitutions during Tuesday’s bitter and blustery CIAC Class S girls' soccer tournament first-round match when a Wildcat player bellowed, “start the clock,” because they, like many others, had had enough of being outside.

Old Lyme and Canton played part of the game in a snow globe with the temperature in the low 30s and falling and a northeast wind rising to 20 miles-per-hour. It didn’t stop the four-time defending state champion Wildcats from scoring three times before halftime in a 4-0 win.

“We don’t love it, but I was telling people that it’s an experience,” Old Lyme senior Lydia Tinnerello said. “We get to play in the snow. It was like, ‘it’s a one-time thing.’”

The eighth-ranked Wildcats (11-3-4) will host No. 24 St. Paul in Thursday’s second round at 2 p.m. St. Paul thumped No. 9 Tourtellotte, 4-0.

“It was a tough game for both teams,” Old Lyme coach Paul Gleason said about Tuesday’s weather. “I didn’t sleep last night, worrying about the conditions today because on a day like this, anybody can win. On a field with the wind and the snow and the rain, anybody can win. And it’s really hard to play in these conditions.

“My girls played very well. They played good, controlled ball. They penetrated up through the middle and we had some good goals.”

Junior Kaylee Armenia scored twice for the Wildcats and sophomore Felse Kyle and freshman Alexis Fenton each added a goal. Junior goalie Sam Gray added six saves.

No. 25 Canton finished 6-10-1.

Tuesday’s win was quite the rebound for Old Lyme after being seeded second in the Shoreline Conference tournament and losing to No. 3 Haddam-Killingworth in the semifinals, 2-1. H-K went on to win the title.

“We were a little disappointed, but then, right off the bat, we were like states, that’s the main focus,” Tinnerello said. “We just want to five-peat this year. We want to keep our legacy going.”

Gleason said, “If we do that, that’ll be quite an accomplishment. I have a young team. I have only three seniors on the team (Melissa Mauro, Katherine Funaro and Tinnerello). The core of my team are sophomores and juniors. We’re going to be formidable next year. … We’ll see what happens.”

n.griffen@theday.com