EMMITSBURG, Md. - Sparked offensively by Ashley Johnson (Arvada, Colo./Arvada West) and defensively by Jackie Kearney (Baltimore, Md./Seton Keough), Mount St. Mary's defeated Bryant 13-3 on Senior Day in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's lacrosse action on Sunday.

Johnson, who leads the team in goals (39) and points (48), posted four goals and one assist in her senior day to lead the team's offensive attack that had seven different players find the back of the twine.

Kearney, who paces the team in ground balls (39) and caused turnovers (26), stuffed the stat sheet with a career-high in ground balls (9) and caused turnovers (6) along with adding two goals and two draw controls in the win. It was the most ground balls since Jacqui Ricca scooped up nine ground balls against Wagner on Mar. 30, 2007 and the most caused turnovers in a match since Lucy Pompa (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr) registered six caused turnovers against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Mar. 22, 2009.

"It was a great win for the Mountaineers today," said head coach Sonia LaMonica. "We really stepped it up in the midfield. Jackie is such a work horse and all the caused turnovers, ground balls and draw controls she got for us were just huge today."

Jordan Certeza (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Lutheran) tallied two goals and two assists for the Mount (6-7, 4-3 NEC) while Meaghan Conlon (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) and Alexis Salerno (South Setauket, N.Y./South Side) each found the twine twice in the winning effort.

Allison Faiola, Meg Atha and Lauren Sheridan each scored a goal for the Bulldogs (2-12, 2-5 NEC) while netminder Lauren Filippone made 17 saves in the loss.

Mount St. Mary's scored the first two goals of the afternoon and six of the first eight tallies to take the advantage and never looked back to earn the win in the first-ever meeting with Bryant on a day the team celebrated the careers of six seniors.

"Senior day is one of those special days," said LaMonica. "It was great to get the majority of our seniors on the field and play a great game and contribute. It was nice to have the rest of the players play well too. It is just a great way to end your career and go out strong."

Certeza got the scoring started for the Mount off a feed from Pompa at 2:28 before Certeza feed Salerno at 3:14 for a 2-0 edge.

Atha answered for the Bulldogs off a feeder from Eliza DeMarseilles at 4:06 to trim the margin to 2-1.

Emily Kirby (Reisterstown, Md./Franklin), Kearney and Conlon responded right back with three-straight scores at 5:00, 8:01 and 10:18, respectively to hand the Mountaineers a 5-1 lead.

After Sheridan converted an 8-meter chance at 11:47 to cut the deficit to 5-2, Mount St. Mary's scored the final two goals of the half to go into halftime with a 6-2 advantage.

Johnson registered a free-position tally at 19:15 before the senior dished out an assist to Salerno at 24:47 for a four-goal lead at the break.

The Mount offensive attack continued in the second half when the squad opened the stanza with four unanswered goals to take an 11-2 margin.

Certeza again got the scoring started unassisted at 31:27 before Jen Semler (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) scored her second tally of the year off an Esther Rufolo (Woodstock, Md./Chapelgate Christian Academy) helper at 39:26. Johnson then capped the run with an 8-meter goal at 43:57 and an unassisted marker at 44:50.

Faiola momentarily halted the Mountaineers run with a free-position goal at 51:46 to cut the deficit to 11-3, but seniors Johnson and Kearney each scored in the final eight minutes to seal the win and to help the squad improve to 5-1 this season at Waldron Family Stadium.

"It seems to be a trend that we play well at home," said LaMonica. "I am looking forward to a solid competition on Tuesday against Johns Hopkins and it will be a great test for us. I am looking for us to finish strong and on a high note."

Brigid McTavish (Mount Airy, Md./South Carroll) made five saves for the Mount in 52:01 of action while Sarah Leder (Manalapan, N.J./Colts Neck) had three stops in 7:59 of time in the cage.

Along with Kearney's career day, Conlon recorded three ground balls, two draw controls and two caused turnovers. Pompa posted three ground balls, three draw controls and two caused turnovers while Rufolo had three draw controls, two caused turnovers and a ground ball in the win.

Kearney became the seventh player in program history to grab 100 draw controls in her career and moved into a tie for sixth place with Kim Keene (100, 2000-03) on the all-time list. Certeza has posted the seventh-most assists in a single season (19) and Rufolo has recorded the eighth-most draw controls (40) in a single season in program history.

With its win against Bryant, the Mount moved into the Top-4 of the standings in the league with two games to play. If the Mount defeats Wagner (Apr. 16) and Long Island (Apr. 18) on the road next weekend the squad will secure its eighth-straight NEC Tournament appearance and its 12th in the 13 years of the league.

"We don't want to jump to conclusions," said LaMonica. "We have to take the rest of the season one game at a time and don't overlook anybody. Nothing is guaranteed and we will be looking to finish strong to secure a spot in the conference tournament."

Prior to the game, the Mountaineers honored seniors Johnson, Kirby, Kearney, Katie Bollinger (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill), Cait Fraccalvieri (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore), Mary Kate Lavin (Ellicott City, Md./Maryvale) and Sydney Sykes (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill). Kirby posted a goal and two ground balls, Fraccalvieri had a shot, a ground ball, a caused turnover and a draw control while Sykes started in the contest. Lavin saw her first action of the season after missing the first 12 games because of an injury and registered two shots off the bench, and Bollinger did not play in the match due to injury.

Mount St. Mary's closes out its home schedule on Tuesday against Johns Hopkins. Game time is 5 p.m.