After Archbishop Carroll rolled to its sixth consecutive Catholic League girls' lacrosse championship last night with a 19-4 win over Archbishop Wood, Patriots coach Lorraine Beers was asked the inevitable question:

How long can you keep the winning streaks going?

The question was not only about the consecutive-championships streak, but also the unbeaten streak in league play as well. The Patriots have not suffered a league loss in 81 games, dating from the title game of the 2000 season, when they were beaten by St. Hubert.

Beers wasn't answering the question, but she said the anticipation for next season already had begun.

"Why not?" she asked.

Beers, who became the Patriots' coach in 2000, will lose just four seniors from a team that posted a 21-1-1 mark overall, 15-0 in the league. Carroll's only loss was to Conestoga, the top seed in the District 1 Class AAA playoffs.

In last night's game at St. Joseph's University, Wood (13-6) was no match for the swift Patriots. Carroll jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first 14 minutes. Mary Beth Brophy, who finished with four goals to share game-high honors with teammate Cara Fillipelli, netted her first goal less than two minutes into the action.

Junior defender Christine Readinger said the Patriots had been upset since losing the lead and allowing Springfield (Delaware County) to tie them in the closing seconds of their nonleague game two weeks ago.

"After that, we decided we wanted a shutout in the championship game," Readinger said. "It gave us incentive tonight. We had it for a while."

Jackie White ended the shutout when she got the Vikings' first goal with 11 minutes, 3 seconds remaining in the first half. Teammate Jillian Carroll led Wood with a pair of goals.

"Our hope was to keep it close - within five or six goals," said coach Chris Aqualino, whose Vikings lost to Carroll in last year's championship game, too. "But that didn't work out. We had some scoring opportunities when it was 5-0 but couldn't take advantage of them. You have to move the ball quickly against them. You can't hold it for 10 to 12 seconds or they're all over you.

"Carroll plays a Main Line-style of lacrosse. That's what we're trying to do. At times, we showed signs of it, but it's not all there yet. Our goal was to get back to the championship game, and we did that."

Archbishop Wood 1 3 - 4

Archbishop Carroll9 10 - 19

Goals: AW-Jillian Carroll 2, Jackie White, Molly McVan. AC-Mary Beth Brophy 4, Cara Fillipelli 4, Jackie DePetris 3, Megan Brennan 2, Erin McDevitt, Laura Beck, Melissa DiTomo, Kelly Bosco, Eileen Boneck, Tara Mitchell.

Saves: AW-Mary Beth Coyle 8, Kate Prendergast 9. AC-Maura Gallagher 3, Megan Corliss 2.