EMMITSBURG, Md. – Monmouth scored the final four goals of the game to come from behind to defeat Mount St. Mary's 9-8 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Women's Lacrosse Championship Game on Sunday.

Katelyn Catanese (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) paced the Mount with three tallies, and freshman A.J. Johnson (Arvada, Colo./Arvada West) chipped in two goals and her first collegiate assist. Jane Karger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Hampton) turned away 15 shots in the loss.

Ashley Waldman capped a four-goal run by netting the game-winner with 38.9 seconds remaining to hand Monmouth its second-straight and third overall NEC Tournament Championship after defeating Mount St. Mary's 9-8 on Sunday. With the win, the Hawks advance to the NCAA Division I Play-in Game against the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions LeMoyne next weekend.

The Mount (10-8) took an 8-5 advantage with 16:08 remaining before Monmouth (15-4) scored four-straight goals to come from behind to earn the victory. Katie Degen, the NEC Player of the Year and Tournament Most Valuable Player, started the Hawks' run with three-straight tallies. After the senior found the twine for the first time at 44:02, Waldman set her up 23 seconds later.

Mount St. Mary's then got the ball with 2:02 remaining, but Jessica Piccuto caused a turnover with 1:29 on the clock and turned that into the game-tying marker by Degen with 55 ticks on the clock. Waldman then converted her free position shot with 38 seconds remaining to hand Monmouth the lead and Megan Nutter won the ensuing draw control to run out the clock.

Degen finished the game with three goals while Waldman, who earned a spot on the All-Tournament team, posted two markers and two assists. Goalkeeper Monica Johnson came up big between the pipes with 12 saves in the winning effort.

Monmouth took a 4-3 lead at halftime and rallied after Mount St. Mary's went on a 5-1 run to come back to become the third program in league history to repeat as tournament champions.

The Mount grabbed an early 2-0 advantage in the match after Jenna Duffy (Bel Air, Md./Catholic) set up A.J. Johnson at 13:46. Catanese then found the twine on Jackie Kearney's (Baltimore, Md../Seton Keough) first collegiate helper at 20:47.

The Hawks responded with a two-goal spurt of their own to tie the game at 2. Megan Brennan, who had five tallies and an assist in the NEC Semifinals against Sacred Heart, put Monmouth on the scoreboard off a Waldman feed with 4:34 left in the first half. Brennan found the twine again 61 seconds later after taking a pass from Nutter.

A. J. Johnson regained the edge for the Mountaineers at 47:16, but the Hawks scored two consecutive to end the stanza and go into the break with a 4-3 margin. Carolyn Raveia scored unassisted before Waldman converted an 8-meter shot with 50 seconds remaining.

Mount St. Mary's came out of the intermission to go on a 5-1 run to take an 8-5 advantage with 16:08 remaining.

Duffy started the surge with an unassisted tally at 33:34 before Rebecca Douglass (Towson, MD/Towson Catholic) gave the Mount the lead again with a marker at 37:23. Kathleen Rossetti (Havre de Grace, MD/Perry Hall) converted her free-position attempt at 41:08 before Casey Paris (Longwood, FL/Lake Brantley) hooked up with Catanese 42 seconds later for a 7-4 advantage.

After Nutter momentarily halted the Mountaineer run when she found the twine off a Raveia assist at 44:34, Catanese responded right back off a feed from A.J. Johnson 26 seconds later for an 8-5 lead. Monmouth then scored the final four goals and held Mount St. Mary's off the scoreboard for the final 16:08 of the game.

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2007-04-29