PHILADELPHIA — Christine Readinger sat in a chair and watched her teammates play lacrosse at Saint Joseph’s University Thursday night.

Readinger, one of Archbishop Carroll’s senior defensive leaders, had a tear in a hip muscle repaired at Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia Wednesday, the day before the Patriots took on Archbishop Wood in the Catholic League playoff final.

“The game originally was scheduled last week,” Readinger said. “When the playoffs got pushed back, I knew I would be able to play Tuesday but not (Thursday).

“I didn’t want to have to just watch the game, but I had to have surgery this week. It hurts, but seeing us win makes things a lot better.”

Readinger’s defensive teammates rallied around her replacement, senior Mary Claire Kelly, and shut down Wood as Carroll rolled to a 16-3 triumph Thursday night and claimed its seventh consecutive Catholic League playoff championship.

“Mary Claire has played tough whenever she’s had the chance,” said Readinger, who will play next spring at Saint Joseph’s, where Kelly again will be her teammate. “I’m glad she did what she did today.”

Kelly said her team got plenty of motivation from Readinger.

“I tried to play like I knew she would have,” said Kelly, who joined senior defender Erin McDevitt in rushing to the sideline to hug Readinger as soon as the horn ending the game had sounded.

“This has been another great year for us. And this is the best way for it to end.”

Carroll coach Lorraine Beers watched with delight as her team put the finishing touches on a seventh consecutive season in which the Patriots did not lose to a Catholic League opponent. Carroll bowed to St. Hubert in the 2000 Catholic League final in Beers’ first season as head coach and has not lost in a league regular-season or playoff game since.

“It’s a different set of girls each season and their enthusiasm is what gets me excited year after year,” Beers said. “Mary Claire comes in for Christine tonight and does a great job, but it’s something we expect from her because of the kind of player she is.

“All of them have made this a great season. We played against (some former Carroll players) at practice Wednesday and it was great. Playing against those kind of players was a big help for our girls because we knew we’d be going against a tough team in this game.”

The teams traded goals in the first five minutes, with Wood’s Taylor Peltzer matching the first of Gabby Capuzzi’s five goals, which came before the game was one minute old. Junior Eileen Boneck came up with the first of her three goals 25 seconds after Peltzer scored, and the Pats’ advantage was 5-1 before Peltzer scored again.

Annie Brophy scored twice in each half and her sister, Mary Beth, and Olivia Salata both had one goal and two assists for Carroll. The Brophys, Kelly, McDevitt, Melissa DiTomo and Laura Beck did excellent work defensively and goalies Maura Gallagher (three saves in the first half) and Meg Corliss (four saves in the second half) continued their solid play for the Pats.

“This is a great win because we knew we would be up against a tough team,” Mary Beth Brophy said. “It really means a lot. Each year gets better than the last.

“Tonight Mary Claire really came through better than we could have expected. And Annie’s my favorite player. She’s so good on attack, in the midfield and on defense. I’m so happy that I got to be a part of what’s been going on here for seven years now.”

Capuzzi helped Carroll beat Wood for the Catholic League basketball title, which came four months after the Pats got by the Vikings in the field hockey final.

“We were going for seven in ’07,” Capuzzi said with a big smile. “Next year we want to make it eight in ’08. I was just happy to be out here playing this year.”

She and Annie Brophy watched last year’s final win over Wood from the sideline. Both had surgery after suffering knee injuries playing soccer.

Annie Brophy has watched as sisters Jess and Mary Beth finished their Carroll careers without playing in a losing Catholic League contest. She will attempt to match that mark next spring.

“There’s such a legacy here and (Beers) is the one who started it,” Annie Brophy said. “We do what we do for her as much as for ourselves. She’s responsible for helping so many people get to college to play lacrosse.

“I know I was nervous before we started tonight because I didn’t want to be on the team that ended the streak. It was definitely a big game for us, and everyone played hard so we could come out on top. This is the greatest way to end the season.”