East Lyme — East Lyme was down a goal and Vikings ace Meredith Healy had just gone to the sideline after being shaken up on a run down the right side, mid-second half.

The free kick from the 10-yard-line, hugging the right sideline, went to Ella Mazzulli, the one East Lyme High School coach Rachel Redding would later call "probably the most underrated player in the (Eastern Connecticut Conference)."

The most underrated player scored, evening the game and spurring East Lyme to a 4-2 victory Werdnesday over previously unbeaten Stonington in a matchup of two of the ECC's girls' soccer luminaries. The game was tied at halftime before Stonington, the defending ECC tournament champion, took a 1-0 lead just 50 seconds into the second half.

Mazzulli's goal made it 2-2 and she assisted on the go-ahead goal by Riddhi Venkates with 16 minutes, 44 seconds remaining.

"I knew Mer went out and our team was running out of energy," Mazzulli, East Lyme's senior stopper and captain said of the direct kick. "I knew if I played it off the back post, my team would be there. When we tied it up, that gave the team more momentum to play for Mer, more momentum to play for each other."

Mazzulli struck again on the game-winner a few moments later, delivering a corner kick from the right side that bounced around in front of the goal before Venkates, a sophomore, got to it and calmly tapped it into the goal. Margaret Dunne, who broke her left wrist in a game last week but returned against Stonington, scored an insurance goal with 4:30 to play.

"I think everybody stepped up their game," Redding said of both teams following the half. "That's when everybody realized 'We have to play better and win.' They're a great team. Stonington's always going to give us the best game possible."

Of Mazzulli, who has been a part of the East Lyme team since her freshman season and inherited the duty of taking free kicks upon the graduation of former all-state defender and Day Player of the Year Angie Venditti, Redding said:

"She's an amazing defender. She's an amazing 1 v. 1 defender. She takes all our free kicks because she knows what she's doing."

Stonington (3-1) came into the interdivisional game unbeaten after topping Chariho for the Piver Cup championship 3-0 Saturday. East Lyme is also 3-1 with a season-opening nonconference loss to Old Lyme, 1-0.

The teams had few opportunities in the first half, although Stonington missed an opportunity to take the lead on a penalty kick that sailed high with 2 seconds remaining in the half.

The Bears didn't have long to wait to score when the second half began, though, as Leah Costa, one of the team's eight freshmen, connected off a scramble in front of the goal. That ignited the scoring trend in the second half as East Lyme tied it 1-1 a little more than three minutes later on a goal by Healy, who created her own opportunity, charging down the center of the field.

Costa reciprocated at the 24:06 mark on a breakaway from Carleigh O'Keefe, giving Stonington the 2-1 edge in a suddenly fast-paced game.

"We definitely woke them up (with the first goal)," Stonington coach Jen Solomon said. "It was back and forth after that, a little ebb and flow. I think that's kind of the rivalry that's been here between Stonington and East Lyme. ... I think there's a lot of positives, a couple great breakaways, a couple great individual efforts, but still some things to work on as a team.

"It's a great time of the season for a loss."

Stonington lost goalie Kelsea Anderson to an injury with about 25 minutes to play. Sophia Anderson came on to take her place.

"She's a field player," Solomon said of Sophia Anderson. "She came in cold (at goalie). She stepped right up and did a great job."

East Lyme's Lily Massung earned the victory in goal.

"It was a big win," Mazzulli said. "We think of (Stonington) as a very strong team. ... I love it (taking the free kicks). I see it as an opportunity just to get everyone going."

v.fulkerson@theday.com