EMMITSBURG, Md. – Katelyn Catanese (Huntington, N.Y.), a member of the Mount St. Mary’s women’s lacrosse team, has been named to the All-Northeast Conference (NEC) first team for the second time in her career, announced on Thursday. Catanese is one of five Mount players to receive all-conference recognition from the league.

Sophomore Ashley Johnson (Arvada, Colo./Arvada West) and freshman Aly Jost (Abingdon, Md./Bel Air) join Catanese on the All-NEC first team while senior Rebecca Douglass (White Hall, Md./Towson Catholic) and junior Caitlin Preas (Rockville, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) each nab spots on the All-NEC second team.

Catanese, a 5-4 midfielder, earns her second-consecutive All-NEC first team honor after also receiving the nod in 2007. The junior, who has 60 markers and seven assists for 67 points, broke Jen Stocker’s (56, 1997) single-season program record and tied Heather Bryan (60, 2000) NEC record for goals in a season with 60. Catanese ranks fourth in the nation with 60 goals, 13^th in goals per game (3.53) and 20^th in points (67). Catanese, the NEC Player of the Week for the week of Mar. 31-Apr. 6, registered a career-high six goals against St. Mary’s (Calif.) on Feb. 29 and against Wagner on Apr. 4 and posted three games with five markers.

For her career, she ranks fourth in program history in goals (123), sixth in points (140), fourth in shots (293) and fifth in draw controls (86).

Johnson, a 5-1 attacker, nabs her first NEC honor after ranking third on the team with 35 tallies and seven assists for 42 points. The sophomore notched a career-high five goals against UC Davis on Feb. 27 and dished out a personal-best three helpers against Wagner. Johnson has four hat tricks this season and has recorded a point in 21-straight games dating back to last season. For her career, Johnson has 50 goals and eight assists for 58 points.

Jost, a 5-3 defender, paced the Mountaineers with 48 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers to grab a spot on the All-NEC first team. The freshman tallied a career-high seven ground balls and four caused turnovers against Central Connecticut State on Mar. 30. Jost was named the NEC Rookie of the Week for the week of Feb. 15-Mar. 2 after posting nine ground balls, three draw controls and four caused turnovers to help Mount St. Mary’s to a pair of wins in California.

Douglass, a 5-8 midfielder, earns her first All-NEC honor after ranking fourth on the team with 25 markers and 15 assists for 40 points. Douglass posted a hat trick five times this season and dished out three assists in three matches. The senior tied a career-high with four points against Wagner. For her career, Douglass has 55 goals and 27 assists for 82 points.

Preas, a 5-4 defender, picks up her first All-NEC recognition in 2008. Along with Jost, Preas helped anchor the Mount defense and posted 14 ground balls, 11 caused turnovers and 10 draw controls while on the offensive end registering four goals and four assists for eight points.  The junior posted a career-high two points (goal, assist) twice this season, including against Long Island on Apr. 18. Last season, Preas was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Week and the Womenslacrosse.com National Player of the Week for the week of Apr. 9-15, 2007. For her career, the junior has nine goals and four assists for 13 points along with 52 ground balls, 21 caused turnovers and 28 draw controls.

Mount St. Mary’s (9-8, 5-3 NEC) enters the NEC Tournament as the No. 4 seed and will play top-seed and host Quinnipiac (9-5, 7-1 NEC) in the semifinals on Friday. Game time is 12 p.m.