East Lyme — East Lyme enters every season with a championship driven mentality.

But winning an Eastern Connecticut Conference girls' lacrosse tournament title isn't a foregone conclusion.

"Each team is different," junior Stephanie deLaforcade said. "In the beginning of the season, we're always like, 'Oh, this might be our off year, like who knows.'"

The rest of the ECC is still waiting for that to happen.

Top-seeded East Lyme captured its 10th straight ECC tournament championship with a convincing 17-5 win over No. 3 Bacon Academy on Thursday night. The Vikings never trailed and outscored the first-time finalist Bobcats 7-1 in the second half. They had swept the regular season series, winning both by 17-7 margins.

Every championship is special for the Vikings (15-3).

"It's still an accomplishment for us," coach Phil Schneider said. "We've got to come out and play well. Nobody wants to be that team that doesn't win it. The pressure is there to keep the high level of excellence that we have right now as far as the ECC is concerned."

The Vikings left no doubt that this would not be an off year by racing out to a 7-1 advantage.

It took only 11 seconds for East Lyme score. Senior Riley Aspinwall set up sophomore Karlie Rowe who buried a close-range shot. Junior Hailey Gordon fired in a free position goal and senior Stacey Brodeur and Rowe scored to increase the lead to 4-0 less than eight minutes in.

To say the least, Bacon was in severe trouble.

"We knew when we stepped on the field that we had to bring it right away," deLaforcade said. "In the semis, we were a little frazzled in the beginning. We had to make sure we calmed down to get a good start."

Bacon (14-4) responded with three straight goals to cut the gap to three (7-4), but East Lyme began another scoring blitz, building a 10-4 lead. The Vikings stayed in attack mode until the final whistle.

DeLaforcade was a dominating presence, finishing with five goals and two assists. She earned most valuable player honors.

"She's a complete player," Schneider said. "She hustles all over the field .She plays good defense and she's very good with her stick and ground balls. She's the MVP of our tournament and probably our team, too."

Rowe and Gordon each scored three goals. A sound defense limited quality scoring opportunities and goalie Alexandra Rose was tough to beat.

The Vikings feel honored that they've continued the championship tradition, according to deLaforcade.

"Every single year we work hard," deLaforcade said. "But we just have a different dynamic every year. It's very awesome to see."

Both East Lyme and Bacon will compete in the state tournament next week.

"Credit to them for playing the whole game," Schneider said of Bacon. "They competed. I wish them luck in the states."

g.keefe@theday.com