BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Ashley Johnson (Arvada, Colo./Arvada West) posted two goals in a decisive 6-0 run to lead Mount St. Mary's past Long Island 18-10 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) women's lacrosse regular season finale on Sunday.

Johnson tied the game at 2-all at 9:47 and start a 6-0 run and then capped the run she started with a tally at 32:49. The senior added a goal in the second half to complete her 10th hat trick of the season and finishes the regular season with 49 goals, the fifth most in program history on the single-season chart.

Esther Rufolo (Woodstock, Md./Chapelgate Christian Academy) tied a career-high with four goals for her fifth hat trick of the season. The sophomore added an assist and registered all five points in the second half. Lucy Pompa (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr) recorded three tallies and an assist for the Mount (8-8, 6-3 NEC) while Alexis Salerno (South Setauket, N.Y./South Side) posted her second career hat trick and Jordan Certeza (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Lutheran), the current NEC Rookie of the Week, tallied two goals and two assists in the winning effort.

Claire Ranney fueled the Blackbirds (3-13, 2-7 NEC) with three markers, and Christie Wienckowski chipped in two goals and an assist in the loss.

Mount St. Mary's rallied from an early deficit and never looked back to complete the regular season 8-8 overall and 6-3 in league play under first-year head coach Sonia LaMonica. The Mount will travel to face top-seed and host Sacred Heart on Friday in the NEC Semifinals.

Trailing 2-1, Johnson started a decisive 6-0 run when she found the twine off a Certeza helper at 9:37 to even the game at 2-all. Jackie Kearney (Baltimore, Md./Seton Keough), the current NEC Defensive Player of the Week, handed the Mountaineers the lead to stay with an unassisted score at 14:47. Salerno posted an unassisted goal (15:35) and a free-position goal (21:40) sandwiched in between an Emily Kirby (Reisterstown, Md./Franklin) marker (19:07) to give Mount St. Mary's a 6-2 lead at halftime.

Johnson then started the second half scoring and capped six unanswered off a feeder from Certeza at 32:49 for a five-goal advantage.

Wienckowski momentarily halted the Mount's offensive outburst with an unassisted tally at 35:35 to trim the margin to 7-3, but the Mountaineers responded with three-straight scores to grab a 10-3 lead.

Pompa converted an 8-meter chance at 38:54 to start the run before Rufolo scored unassisted for her first goal of the afternoon at 39:52 and Allie Fife (Alexandria, Va./Bishop Ireton) capped the run off a helper by Kearney at 40:26.

The two teams then traded the next four tallies. Anna Kalata scored unassisted at 42:22 before Rufolo answered unassisted at 43:57. After Claire Ranney posted a free-position goal at 45:22, Johnson converted one of her own at 48:01 to maintain the six-goal difference.

Long Island then posted consecutive goals for the only time in the contest when Sara Lanoir recorded an 8-meter tally at 49:12 and Jillian Maricondo scored unassisted 35 seconds later to cut the margin to 12-7.

Mount St. Mary's responded the next four goals to take a 16-7 edge. After Salerno completed her hat trick off a feeder from Johnson at 52:28, Pompa scored off a pass from Rufolo at 53:52. Rufolo then found the twine unassisted at 55:15 and Certeza scored off a feeder from Kearney 14 seconds later for a nine-goal margin.

Wienckowski stopped then surge with a free-position goal at 56:26, but Pompa finished her three-goal performance off an assist from Kirby at 58:09 and Rufolo matched her career high of four tallies with 31 seconds left for an 18-8 lead.

The Blackbirds scored twice in the final 17 seconds to make the final score 18-10 in favor of the Mountaineers.

Long Island got the scoring started on the afternoon and took a 2-1 margin. Lanoir gave the Blackbirds a 1-0 edge on an unassisted tally at 4:02. After Pompa hooked up with Certeza at 5:46 to tie the match, Ranney converted a free-position goal at 6:17 for a 2-1 advantage. Mount St. Mary's then scored the next six tallies to go on for its 10th win against the Blackbirds.

Brigid McTavish (Mount Airy, Md./South Carroll) made 12 saves for the Mount while Jacqueline Simonian turned away six shots in the loss. McTavish also recorded a team-high five ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Aly Jost (Abingdon, Md./Bel Air) added three ground balls, two caused turnovers and a draw control and Pompa posted two ground balls, two draw controls and a caused turnover.

Certeza moved into fifth place on the program's all-time single-season assist list with 23 helpers. Along with moving into fifth place for goals in a season, Johnson moved into fourth place for points in a single season with 59. Kearney moved into fifth place for career draw controls with 104 draws.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action when the squad participates in its eighth-straight NEC Tournament appearance and 12th in 13 years against the Pioneers on Friday. Game time to be announced. It marks the second meeting between the two teams in the league postseason after the Mount down Sacred Heart 6-5 on a Kristen Gealy goal with 1:58 left in the NEC Semifinals in 2004 to help the team move on to win its first NEC Tournament title.