EMMITSBURG, Md. – Katelyn Catanese (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) posted three goals and three assists to lead Mount St. Mary's past Saint Francis (Pa.) 22-8 in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's lacrosse action on Sunday.

Catanese posted a goal and two assists in the first half, including the go-ahead marker at 9:15 and then added two tallies and an assist in the final stanza. The senior now has a team-best 21 goals and six assists for 27 points this season.

Ashley Johnson (Arvada, Colo./Arvada West), Breana Waraksa (Media, Pa./Strath Haven) and Nicole Price (White Hall, Md./North Harford) each registered three goals and an assist for the Mount (2-8, 2-0 NEC) while Lucy Pompa (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr) also recorded a hat trick in the winning effort.

Kate Simmons paced the Red Flash (1-4, 0-2 NEC) with three goals while Danielle Pokusa made 15 saves in the loss.

Mount St. Mary's rallied from a 4-2 deficit to grab the advantage and never looked back for its eighth-straight win against Saint Francis (Pa.).

Trailing 4-2 with 23:37 left in the first half, the Mount rolled off the next five goals to take the lead for good. Waraksa started the run with an unassisted goal at 7:59 before Johnson converted an 8-meter chance at 8:57 to tie the game at 4. Waraksa set up Catanese to give the Mountaineers the lead it would not relinquish at 9:15. Pompa capped the surge with a free-position tally 40 seconds later and Catanese returned the favor to Waraksa at 12:41 for a 7-4 advantage.

Simmons momentarily halted the Mount St. Mary's run with an unassisted goal at 21:39 to trim the deficit to 7-5, but the Mount closed the half with the final three markers. Johnson started the surge with back-to-back goals at 24:40 and at 25:03 before Emily Kirby (Reisterstown, Md./Franklin) fed Pompa at 27:19 for a 10-5 margin.

The Mountaineers then opened the final stanza by scoring the first five goals on the second period. Kathleen Rossetti (Perry Hall, Md./Perry Hall) started the surge with an unassisted tally at 31:38 before Catanese hooked up with Price for Price's first career goal at 32:14. After Mary Kate Lavin (Ellicott City, Md./Maryvale) then found the twine off a Johnson assist at 32:47, Catanese scored off a Price assist at the 33-minute mark and then Catanese returned the favor 31 seconds later for a 15-5 lead.

Simmons again momentarily stopped the Mount St. Mary's offensive outburst with an unassisted goal at 36:06 before the Mount rolled off the next four tallies. Catanese converted an 8-meter shot at 36:50 to start the run. Pompa found the back of the net off a Jen Semler (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) helper at 42:47 before Meaghan Conlan (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) notched her first career goal at 44:07. Price capped the spurt by completing her first career hat trick on a free-position goal at 47:53 for a 19-6 margin.

After Jenna Griffiths scored her first marker of the year at 54:09 on an 8-meter shot, Esther Rufalo (Woodstock, Md./Chapelgate Christian Academy) recorded a free-position goal of her own at 57:48 and Conlan feed Alexis Salerno (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward Mellville) with 1:30 remaining in the match.

Simmons completed her hat trick with 28 seconds left before Kim Karpinski (Freehold, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) notched her first career score off a Rufalo assist with 17 ticks on the clock to seal a 22-8 victory.

Mount St. Mary's jumped out to a quick 1-0 advantage when Catanese fed Kirby 22 seconds into the match.

The Red Flash then rolled off three of the next four goals to grab a 4-2 advantage. Meghan Crosby and Meg Lamarche each converted 8-meter shots at the 47-second mark and at 2:12, respectively, before Katie Jenkins found the twine at 4:56 for a 3-1 margin. After Waraksa converted a free-position shot at 5:10, Chelsea Kent scored at 6:23 to regain a two-goal advantage. The Mount then scored five unanswered and never looked back to open 2-0 in league play for the seventh time in program history and the first since 2007.

Along with her three goals, Pompa stuffed the stat sheet with a career-high seven ground balls, six caused turnovers and two draw controls. Price added three draw controls and two ground balls.

Catanese moved into third place on the program's all-time career points list with 173 points.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Sunday at the Waldron Family Stadium against Monmouth. Game time is 1 p.m.