Box Score Union, N.J. (April 16, 2014) – The Drew University women's lacrosse team (9-3) picked up its third consecutive win with a 16-7 victory over in-state rival Kean University (7-6) this evening at Alumni Stadium in Union, N.J.

The Rangers held an explosive Cougar offense to just one goal in the second half behind the stellar play of freshman Jadin James. "We played great team defense tonight, everyone took responsibility all over the field making it easier to stick together as a team," said James who made her sixth start of the season in net for the Rangers. Jadin played all 60 minutes in between the pipes for the Rangers allowing seven goals and making 16 saves in the Ranger win.

Drew started the scoring just 1:29 seconds into the contest when junior midfielder Krysta Cento, who finished the game with one goal and five assists, found a wide-open Brooke Gagliano in front of the net for the early 1-0 lead. The two teams traded goals until the 1:23 mark of the first half when senior Jess Johnson netted a pair of free positions goals from the eight-meter to push the Rangers out in front 7-5. Kean would add a goal right before the half to cut the Drew lead to just one, 7-6 entering the half.

The Ranger offense exploded in the second half scoring six unanswered to take a 13-6 lead with just over 14 minutes left in the game. In the six-goal rally freshman Morgan Mason tallied three goals to record her third hat-trick of the season. Mason finished the game by adding two assists to tie a career-high five points. "A key part of our second half performance was being able to weather the physicality of our opponent," says head coach Julia Steier. "We approach every game with a playoff attitude and it is always nice to pick up a win over an in-state rival."

Following the Ranger six goal barrage, Kean answered with their only goal of the season half on Jordan Blanda's 32nd goal of the season. Drew responded 1:26 later when Cento found a wide-open Nikki Kleiman in front of the net for her fourth goal of the contest. Gagliano would score her fourth of the game at the 4:35 mark of the second half off an assist from Johnson. Four goals on the night propelled Gagliano to her sixth hat-trick of the season.

With her fourth and final goal of the evening, Kleiman scored the 173rd of her career moving her into seventh all-time on the Ranger Career Goals list. Classmate Krysta Cento finished the night with six points bringing her career total to 198, moving her into 10th all-time on the Career Points list.

"Games like these against regional opponents with different playing styles than ours are captivating to watch, they also provide us with good practice for our upcoming games," says Steier.

The Rangers continue play tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. as they play host to Colorado College at Ranger Stadium.