Box Score ASTON, Pa. (May 7, 2014) – The fifth-seeded Drew University women's lacrosse team held true to its year-long theme, Together Drew, to overcome two separate three-goal deficits and defeat No. 4 Neumann University, 16-14, on Wednesday evening in the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Championship quarterfinals.
 
The Rangers (11-6) advance to the semifinal round with a trip to top-seeded Lebanon Valley College on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
Amid the togetherness, the comebacks, some big-time saves from freshman goalkeeper Jadin James and a 6-1 Drew scoring run in the final 11 minutes of the game, junior midfielder Krysta Cento set a new school record for assists in a single season with 53, and counting. Her helper, the fifth of the game for Cento, set up a goal by freshman Charlotte Brown with 10:45 to play to cut a Knights' lead to 13-12.
 
"Every time we would score, [junior attacker] Nikki Kleiman came over to give me a hug and remind how close I was," Cento said. "She was counting down, but the only number I was looking at was the scoreboard counting up. Every time it went up in our favor, I knew we were one step closer to our ultimate goal of winning the game."
 
Kleiman netted five goals for the Rangers, two of which were assisted by Cento as her classmate and teammate established a new program mark for assists in a season.
 
"Assists records are one of my favorites, because it features a playmaker that isn't going for the glory," head coach Julia Steier said. "It shows so much more than being able to put the ball in the back of the net. It shows understanding of passing lanes and taking advantage of defenses. It's one of my favorite stats and I'm happy Krysta was able to reach that milestone in a victory."
 
Cento led the game with nine points in the quarterfinal victory, adding four goals on Wednesday while grabbing four ground balls and winning three draw controls. Three of those goals were unassisted and came in the final 8:45 of the contest during Drew's run to take the lead and hold it for an ECAC tournament win. Her unassisted goal with 3:04 left gave Drew the 15-14 lead and went down as the game-winner while the Rangers played a women down after one of six yellow cards.
 
Her first goal came with 3:31 left in the first half to draw the Rangers within one, 7-6, after trailing by three goals for most of the opening 30 minutes.
 
"It was all about sticking together and remaining on course until the end," Cento said. "Our theme is Together Drew and we did that again tonight. We all realized that we had the chance to win and we didn't want to give that up. No one on this team has won an ECAC championship, so we want to keep on winning so we can continue the season together and reach that goal."
 
James made 14 saves and picked up nine ground balls, while also causing one turnover by intercepting a pass that was headed for a wide-open potential Neumann goal scorer. The Drew rookie improved her record to 7-4 between the pipes this season.
 
Brown finished with three goals for the Rangers, while senior midfielder Brooke Gagliano and freshman attacker Anna Fiorini each tallied twice. Fiorini's second goal was the final score of the game, while both of Gagliano's halted Knights' scoring runs as Drew chipped away at their lead in the second half.
 
Senior midfielder Jess Johnson picked up three assists in the victory and added four ground balls, two draw controls and a caused turnover.

"We needed to worry about the things we could control instead of the things we hoped would go our way," Steier said. "We started hustling toward every ball on the ground and in the air, had fun and focused on ourselves improving and playing Together Drew."
 
The winner of Drew/Lebanon Valley will advance to the championship game on Sunday to face the winner of No. 3 St. Joseph's (L.I.) College/No. 2 McDaniel College, which will be the second semifinal game on Saturday at LVC at 6:30 p.m.