Waterford - Gabby Silvia was wearing the lone brown jersey in the middle of a pack of white shirts with blue numbers, 38.1 seconds remaining.

Suddenly, Silvia, an all-state forward for the Stonington High School girls' soccer team, emerged from the crowd with the ball.

Then one-on-one, she beat Waterford goalie Jordan Kovacs to the lower left corner of the goal, giving the Bears a 1-0 victory Tuesday in the early-season matchup of Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium Division rivals.

"Sam (Narducci) played it off somebody and I just snuck behind at the 6 (yard-line). I couldn't believe it actually went in," Silvia said. "I just stood there for a minute until everybody started screaming. ... I think this is the game we really played with all our heart."

The victory gave Stonington (5-1, 2-0) a tie atop the Medium Division standings with Killingly, while dropping defending Class M state champion Waterford to 1-3-1 overall, 0-2 in the division.

It was the fourth straight shutout for the Bears and goalie Gabi Hoops (five saves), who has allowed only three goals so far this season.

"I keep telling them you've got to play until the last minute. Play and keep playing," said Stonington coach Dave Walsh, whose team didn't graduate a single player from a year ago. "That's (Silvia's) style. She's a sneaky little player. She's been struggling scoring goals, but we've been trying to tell her to play for that one chance you get."

Stonington came out firing early, spraying the ball all around the Waterford net, going on to outshoot the Lancers 20-5 overall. But each team had just a handful of what Waterford coach Chris Ghiglia called "dangerous" opportunities.

Just before halftime, a Stonington shot bounced off the right post and Waterford's Claire Hurley followed a short time later by slamming a ball off the crossbar - the two biggest threats of the game to that point -but the score remained 0-0 at halftime and right up until the final moments.

Kovacs finished with 10 saves for the Lancers.

Stonington lost to Waterford 4-3 on Oct. 2 last season and tied the Lancers 1-1 on Oct. 19, watching as Waterford finished 9-0-1 to win the Medium Division and went on to defeat Haddam-Killingworth 1-0 for a state title. The Bears began this season with the idea that it's their chance to leave a mark the way Waterford did.

"Every time we come here, it's a hard-fought battle. It's a matter of staying cool and calm," Walsh said. "We know how to play. If we can play our game, we'll be tough to beat. We feel that this is our year."

Ghiglia said his team has been pressing to score goals, losing its second straight 1-0 decision. The Lancers also reorganized the backfield around center back Sally Scarpa before Tuesday's game, he said.

"There were a lot of positives," Ghiglia said. "... It seems like we make one mistake and we get punished. We hit it off the bar, we get a narrow miss, but that's to be expected with a new team, a new coach. We've been getting by on our intensity and the way they approach the game.

"But it's only game five. We have to keep looking for ways to find the back of the net, keep our focus, keep trying to improve."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday