NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – Senior Breana Waraksa (Media, Pa./Strath Haven) dished out a program-record six assists to lead Mount St. Mary's past Central Connecticut State 17-8 in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's lacrosse action on Friday.

Waraksa recorded assists on three of the first four Mount (4-8, 4-0 NEC) goals and finished the first half with five helpers. The senior added an assist and a goal in the second half. Waraksa established a new program record with her six assists, breaking the old mark of five helpers. The senior moved into second place tie on the program's all-time career assists list with Nicole Di'Angelo (65, 2002-05), who was the last player to register five assists in a game after aiding five scores against Manhattan on Apr. 1, 2005.

Katelyn Catanese (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) and Ashley Johnson (Arvada, Colo./Arvada West) each added four markers to remaining tied for the team lead with 26 tallies on the year for the Mountaineers.

Stephanie John paced the Blue Devils (0-11, 0-4 NEC) with five goals and an assist while Lyndsey Mastandrea tallied a goal and an assist in the loss.

After being delayed because of lightening and battling raining conditions, Mount St. Mary's jumped out to the early advantage and never looked back to go on for the win and open up league play 4-0 for the fourth time in program history. The Mount also started 2004, 2005 and 2007 with four-straight NEC wins.

The Mountaineers opened the game with the first five goals. Waraksa set up Johnson at 1:48 for the first tally of the afternoon. After Brianna Gauthier (Severna Park, Md./St. Mary's) notched her second goal of the year unassisted at 10:35, Waraksa set up Johnson at 11:08 and Catanese at 15:14 before Emily Kirby (Reisterstown, Md./Franklin) set up Catanese's next score at 16:04 for a 5-0 advantage.

Johnson put Central Connecticut State on the scoreboard at 19:20 on a free-position attempt before Kirby found the twine off Aly Jost's (Abingdon, Md./Bel Air) first collegiate helper at the 23:48 mark.

After Ashley Mara cut the margin to 6-2 on an unassisted tally at 25:27, Waraksa fed Kelly Taylor (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) at 27:29 and Catanese with 56 seconds remaining for an 8-2 advantage to cap a five-assist five-stanza for the senior. Jessica Roberts ended the scoring in the first half with an unassisted goal at 29:21 to trim the margin to 8-3 going into the halftime.

Mount St. Mary's started the second half with three unanswered goals. Kathleen Rossetti (Perry Hall, Md./Perry Hall) found the back of the twine to notch a point in her 23rd-straight game 29 seconds into the final stanza. Johnson then found the twine unassisted at 33:40 and Waraksa set up Catanese at 36:31 for an 11-3 margin.

John momentarily halted the Mountaineers' offensive surge with an unassisted goal at 36:43, but Mount St. Mary's rolled off the next five tallies to grab a 16-4 advantage. Rossetti started the run unassisted at 37:32 before Lucy Pompa (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr) converted an 8-meter shot at 39:15. Kim Karpinski (Freehold, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) scored off a pass from Jackie Kearney (Baltimore, Md./Seton Keough) 17 seconds later. After Alexis Salerno (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) recorded a free-position marker at 40:34, Waraksa took care of it herself to find the twine for her first goal of the afternoon at 41:59 for a 12-goal lead.

John answered for the Blue Devils with a natural hat trick. The senior scored off a Mastandrea assist (50:04), unassisted (54:10) and off an Alexa Smead helper (58:14) to trim the margin to 16-7.

Johnson scored with 37 seconds remaining and John fed Mastandrea with 18 seconds remaining to end the scoring in the match.

Brigid McTavish (Mount Airy, Md./South Carroll) made nine saves for Mount St. Mary's while Alice Lee turned away nine shots for Central Connecticut State.

Nikki Antonious (Baltimore, Md./Mercy) paced the Mount defense with four caused turnovers and two ground balls. Along with her goal, Gauthier added three caused miscues, two ground balls and a draw controls.

Catanese became the program's all-time leader in shots (383) while Johnson moved into 12th place for career goals with 80.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Sunday at Quinnipiac. The Mount and the Bobcats have met four times in the last two seasons, including a rematch of the last two NEC Quarterfinals. Game time is 1 p.m.