Hartford — East Lyme coach Rachel Redding was asked late Saturday night what the emotions of the day had been like. And there were a lot of them.

"A ball of nerves," Redding said. "A lot of these girls have never been to something this big."

Redding wasn't discounting the possibility of her team returning to this point next year either, the Class L girls' soccer state championship game at Dillon Stadium, a professional atmosphere with all the trappings of the big time.

Just this title, this day belonged to Guilford.

Sixth-seeded Guilford overcame a 1-0 early lead by No. 13 East Lyme to finish with a 2-1 victory and the ninth state championship in program history in its 11th trip to the title game.

Senior Lily Riccio scored the game-winning goal on a lightning strike of a breakaway 1 minute, 22 seconds into the second half for the Indians (18-2-4) to earn Most Valuable Player honors.

East Lyme, meanwhile, finished 12-5-5, reaching the championship game for the first time since 1998, the first for Redding, and vying for its first title in program history.

The Vikings reached the final day of the season with defense, not giving up their first goal of the tournament until the final, and with the hard work that both Redding and senior midfielder Alivia Catanzaro would refer to following the game.

East Lyme graduates seniors Grace Wargo, Emma Belleville, Sophie Taylor, Anazya Taylor, Anna McCusker, Catanzaro, goalie Avery Owen and all-state sweeper Angie Venditti.

"Definitely hard work," Catanzaro said. "We work hard every day at practice. We never stop running. Always on our toes, always get a good first touch."

"I think their determination to win ... to be the first one (in program history) to win states would be awesome," Redding said of what accounted for East Lyme's state tournament success. "They worked hard all season. ... Now they got the taste in their mouth."

East Lyme lost to Guilford 1-0 earlier in the season, but this time it was the Vikings who struck first against the Southern Connecticut Conference champion Indians.

Just 5:12 into the game, Margaret Dunne crossed a ball from the right side to fellow sophomore Meredith Healy, who tapped it past Guilford goalie Claire Mackenzie to give East Lyme the 1-0 lead.

Guilford tied it with 19:20 to play in the half on a blast from the right side by Gabi Garcia-Perez assisted by Maggie Mandel and threatened to take the lead right then with two more shots in rapid succession. One shot hit the post and one was saved by East Lyme goalie Avery Owen.

The game went to halftime tied 1-1. Shortly thereafter, however, Riccio beat the East Lyme defense at a full sprint and zipped a shot past Owen for what would prove to be the final margin.

East Lyme had opportunities in the second half, including a dangerous cross by Catanzaro with 2:13 remaining after Redding moved Catanzaro forward to make a final push for the equalizer.

"We tried. We tried," Redding said. "We came out stronger than we have, than we did in all of states. We couldn't put another in. ... (In the second half) I just told them, 'We've got to beat everybody to every ball.' We played hard. Even in the last 30 seconds we were pressuring them."

East Lyme reached the final after a 4-12-1 season last year in which it did not qualify for the state tournament at all. The Vikings also won the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I title this year.

East Lyme then advanced in the state tournament with shutouts of No. 20 Maloney (3-0), No. 4 Ledyard (1-0), No. 5 Mercy (0-0 tie, 3-2 in penalty kicks) and No. 8 Sheehan (1-0).

Interim Guilford coach Rick Geremia, who took over for the state tournament following the resignation of coach Scott McMahon, said he didn't need to say anything to the Indians following the early East Lyme goal.

"We got into our game," Geremia said. "We started moving the ball around. They responded. It was really good to see."

v.fulkerson@theday.com