EMMITSBURG, Md. – Sophomore Kathleen Rossetti (Havre de Grace, Md./Perry Hall) sparked an 8-0 run with three goals to lift Mount St. Mary's past Quinnipiac 13-8 in the Northeast Conference Tournament (NEC) semifinals on Friday.

After the Bobcats (7-9) tied the game at 3, Rossetti scored the first of eight-unanswered goals for the Mount (10-7) at the 25:20 mark to hand the top seed the lead for good. The sophomore added two goals in the spurt in the second half to complete the hat trick. Rossetti also had a career-high six draw controls and three ground balls to lead the Mountaineers back to the championship game for the first time since 2005.

Junior Rebecca Douglass (Towson, Md./Towson Catholic) added two goals and an assist while Katelyn Catanese (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) recorded a marker and two assists in the winning effort.

Lindsay Banach (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) and Tiffany Manzi (Feeding Hills, Mass./Agawam) paced Quinnipiac with three goals and an assist apiece in the loss.

The Bobcats scored two-straight goals to tie the game at 3 before Mount St. Mary's rolled off eight-straight markers to take an 11-3 advantage and went on for a 13-8 win and a date in the championship game with the defending league champions Monmouth on Sunday.

Rossetti started the run of three tallies to end the half on an unassisted score with 4:40 left in the stanza. Casey Paris (Longwood, Fla./Lake Brantley) found the back of the net at 45 seconds later before Katie Falatach (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) scored unassisted 51 seconds later.

Rossetti then started the scoring in the second half when notched her second tally of the day at 35:15. Douglass found the twine at 42:40 before Rossetti capped her three-goal afternoon 63 seconds later for a 9-3 lead. Falatach and Douglass completed the eight-goal run with scores at 48:16 and 49:26, respectively.

Quinnipiac then went on a run of its own, scoring five-straight markers to trim the deficit to 11-8 with 4:45 remaining. Banach started the surge at 49:48 before Manzi converted an 8-meter shot at 50:51. After Banach feed Kaitlyn Vennard (Albany, N.Y./Guilderland) seven seconds later, Janelle Lopez (Chula Vista, Calif./Francis Parker) hooked up with Manzi at the 52:40. Banach, who started the run, capped the surge with an unassisted tally at 55:15.

Catanese sealed the Mountaineer victory by dishing out an assist to A.J. Johnson (Arvada, Colo./Arvada West) with 4:14 remaining before she feed Caitlin Preas (Rockville, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) with eight seconds remaining.

The Bobcats started the scoring in the match after Manzi found the twine at 3:37.

Mount St. Mary's then posted three unanswered markers to take a 3-1 advantage. After Douglass feed Catanese at 6:41, Jenna Duffy (Bel Air, Md./Catholic) scored unassisted at 9:06 before she set up Casey Paris (Longwood, Fla./Lake Brantley) 46 seconds later.

Quinnipiac responded with two markers after Banach scored unassisted at 11:22 and Nicole Fiore (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) scored off a feed from Manzi at 23:37. The Mount then went on a decisive 8-0 run to go on for the victory.

NEC Defensive Player of the Year Jacqui Ricca (Poolesville, Md./St. Johns College) paced the Mountaineers defense with four ground balls and three caused turnovers while Brittany Hauser (East Northport, N.Y./Commack) posted seven ground balls and two assists for the Bobcats.

Jane Karger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Hampton) made five saves for Mount St. Mary's and Hannah Nelson (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) turned away 14 shots for Quinnipiac.

The Mount advances to its fourth NEC Championship game and will be looking for its third tournament title in three years. Mount St. Mary's will face Monmouth in the league tournament for the 10th time in program history and will face the Hawks in the title game for the third time in program history.

2007-04-27