EMMITSBURG, Md. – Katie Falatach (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) tallied two goals and two assists to lead Mount St. Mary's to its 100th win in program history and past Sacred Heart 9-5 in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's lacrosse action on Sunday.

Coming off a career-high three goals and three assists against Wagner on Friday, Falatach scored the first marker of the match and then found the back of the twine for the eventual game-winner in the second half. The junior then assisted two-straight scores after her second goal of the afternoon. Falatach now has 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points on the year.

Katelyn Catanese (Huntington, Md./St. Anthony's) added two goals and an assist for the Mount (3-6, 3-0 NEC) while Jenna Duffy (Bel Air, Md./Catholic) chipped in a marker and a helper. Goalkeeper Jane Karger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Hampton) made 11 saves in the winning effort.

Katie Salamone led the Pioneers (3-6, 1-3 NEC) with two goals, and Brianna Brubeck, Carissa Hauser, and Liz Ottey also found the twine in the loss.

Mount St. Mary's scored five of the six goals in the first half and sustained a Sacred Heart spurt to start the second half to open up league play with three-straight victories for the third time in program history.

The Mount started the game with three unanswered goals. Falatach opened the first half scoring off a feed from Duffy at 3:33. Kathleen Rossetti (Havre de Grace, Md./Perry Hall) converted an 8-meter shot at 21:59 before Breana Waraksa (Media, Pa./Strath Haven) set up Catanese's first score of the afternoon at the 23:40 mark for a 3-0 edge.

Brubeck answered for the Pioneers 52 seconds later on an unassisted marker to cut the deficit to 3-1.

The Mountaineers responded with two markers to end the half. Catanese recorded a caused turnover and then dished the ball off to Duffy to find the back of the net at 25:42 before Rebecca Douglass (Towson, Md./Towson Catholic) capped the squad's five-goal stanza with an unassisted tally with 3:41 left in the period.

Sacred Heart came out of the intermission to post two-straight markers on 8-meter shots. Salamone found the twine at 31:47 before Hauser converted her free-position attempt at 25:56 to trim the margin, 5-3.

Sparked by Falatach, Mount St. Mary's responded with three-straight tallies to push the lead to 8-4 with 10:44 remaining. After the junior scored unassisted at 39:24, she set up Catanese at 44:56 and Abby O'Beirne (Fort Washington, Pa./Mount St. Joseph) at 49:16.

The Pioneers made another comeback attempt in the final 10 minutes when Salamone converted an 8-meter shot at 40:01 and Meghan McCaffrey set up Ottey at 54:20, but Casey Paris (Longwood, Fla./Lake Brantley) answered with her first goal of the day with 3:52 remaining for a 9-5 advantage.

Jacqui Ricca (Poolesville, Md./St. Johns College) paced the Mountaineer defense with five ground balls, four draw controls and three caused turnovers. Freshman Jackie Kearney (Baltimore, Md./Seton Keough) added five ground balls, two caused turnovers and a draw control in the win.

Chelsea Wagner made 11 stops for Sacred Heart while Mary Montesarchio tallied six ground balls, two draw controls and one caused turnover in the loss.

Paris tied former teammate Kirby Day (116, 2003-06) for third place on the program's all-time goal list with 116. Karger moved into fourth place for minutes played by a netminder with 864.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Thursday in a first-place showdown with Quinnipiac. Game time is 4:00 p.m.

2007-04-01