Lady Tribunes reign once again

SYRACUSE - The Monroe Community College women's lacrosse program continued its incredible run of dominance and perfection, as the Tribunes captured their third straight NJCAA championship with a 17-10 victory over Onondaga Community College on Sunday.

The win capped a third straight perfect season for the Lady Tribunes (15-0), who have won 50 consecutive games. Monroe has also won five of the past six NJCAA titles.

Nicole Beatson put the finishing touches on an incredible postseason by registering four goals and four assists against Onondaga. The freshman midfielder also added six draw controls and picked up three ground balls.

Beatson finished postseason play with 17 goals and six assists in four games.

In what has become a common theme between Monroe and Onondaga, the teams traded goals and momentum early on. The Lazers jumped out to a quick lead on a goal by Nicole Devona before the Tribunes started to heat up.

Michaela Ciciarelli got Monroe on the board with 20:10 remaining in the half. Zoe Hendricks then followed with a pair of goals, and Jamie Wallace also scored to make it 4-1.

Onondaga countered with a pair of goals to cut it to 4-3. The teams then traded scores, and Monroe led 6-5 with under three minutes to play in the half.

Just like the semifinal game against Nassau, the Tribunes struck right before the half to carry momentum into the break. Kali Domicolo found the back of the net with 2:48 remaining, and Wallace scored with just 29 seconds to go as MCC took an 8-5 lead into the locker room.

Beatson scored five minutes into the second half to make it 9-5, but the Lazers responded with two straight to stay close. That's when MCC put together a run that helped put the game away.

Beatson and Zoe Hendricks each had a goal and an assist as the Tribunes outscored Onondaga 5-0 over a span of 8:18 to give MCC a 14-7 lead with just under 10 minutes left on the clock. The run proved to be the difference in the contest, as the Lazers were unable to get any closer than six goals the rest of the way.

Hendricks also had four goals and Ciciarelli finished with three goals and an assist. Domicolo and Wallace recorded two goals and an assist apiece, with Elle MacMillan and Gianna Branca scoring once each.

Hayley Peets was stout in goal, making 10 saves on the day. Michelle Schwartz had an assist to go along with three ground balls and three caused turnovers.