Tribunes pull away from Anne Arundel, advance to title game

ARNOLD, Maryland - Christie Hahn finished with four goals and four assists and the MCC women's lacrosse team used an early second-half run to pull away for a 19-11 win over host Anne Arundel in the semifinals of the NJCAA national tournament Saturday.

The Tribunes (14-0) advance to Sunday's championship game, where they will be seeking their fifth straight national title and seventh overall. MCC will face either Howard or Onondaga in the championship.

Hahn scored three times as Monroe took a 10-6 lead at the break. The sophomore play-maker then took over early in the second half, registering a goal and four assists during a 7-1 run that helped put the game away.

Janee DeLuca got the run started off a pass from Hahn to make it 11-6 just ove ra minute into the second half. After a Riverhawk goal, Monroe rattled off six straight to take a 17-7 lead.

Hahn scored next to make it 12-7 before finding Morgan Hollenbeck in front for another goal to push the lead to six. Kyli-Marie Towner then converted a free position shot to make it 14-7.

Hollenbeck and Kendall Jones followed with scores - both off feeds from Hahn - and Jones tallied again to make it a 10-goal game.

Anne Arundel finally broke the streak with 16:47 left, but Taylor Excell followed with two scores to make it 19-8. The Riverhawks found the back of the cage three times down the stretch, but the outcome had already been decided.

Hollenbeck finished with three goals and two assists, while Towner and Excell added three goals apiece. DeLuca and Excell scored two goals each, and Se'Anna Beikirch and Kendall Skuse scored once.

Excell finished with 10 draw controls as Monroe held a 22-10 advantage in that all-important category. Hollenbeck added five ground balls and four caused turnovers.

Sarah Annable made eight saves in goal for Monroe.