PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle lacrosse squad returns to the friendly confines of McCarthy Stadium for a two-game homestand this week. The Explorers host Long Island on Wednesday and Delaware on Friday, with both opening draws at 7 p.m.

Long Island Blackbirds (0-1) @ La Salle Explorers (2-1)
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 | 7 PM
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Delaware Blue Hens (2-1) @ La Salle Explorers (2-1)
Friday, March 1, 2013 | 7 PM
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Scouting the Explorers

The Explorers return home after a 1-1 road trip. The squad suffered a 12-6 setback at crosstown foe Drexel on Wednesday but bounced back with a 22-4 trouncing of Howard on Saturday. Caitlyn Brostrand scored a team-best two goals against the Dragons. Rookie Katelyn Fay exploded for four goals and two assists against the Bison.

Fay and Kelly Furman lead the squad after three games with eight points, though the scoring has been very balanced so far. Fay is tied for the team lead in goals (6) with Brostrand and has recorded two assists. Furman has three goals and five assists for eight points. Brostrand also has an assist to her stat line for a total of seven points. Lauren McDermott also has seven points on five goals and two assists. Erin McCabe rounds out the top five scorers with six points on five goals and an assist.

Senior keeper Maura Malone made five saves at Howard to up her season total to 14.

Scouting the Blackbirds

Long Island opened its season with a 21-8 loss to No. 14 Massachusetts. A pair of players - Shakoya Smith and Caitlin Farrell - recorded three goals and an assist each to lead the team with four points after one contest. Gina Haber and Alexis Maldonado split time in goal, combining for eight saves while yielding 21 goals.

Smith is the leading returning scorer from last year's squad that went just 1-15 overall. Smith recorded 47 goals and assisted in three others for 50 points. Brittany Rader was second on the squad with 25 goals last season and Ashley Delaney rounds out the top three returning scorers after scoring 24 goals last year.

Scouting the Blue Hens

Delaware has won two straight since dropping its season opener, 16-12, to No. 15 Georgetown. The Blue Hens followed with a 14-6 win over Monmouth before edging Denver 7-6 in their last contest.

Reigning CAA Player of the Week Caitlin McCartney has drained 11 goals so far this season along with one assist for 12 points. McCartney was last year's CAA Rookie of the Year, and has started this season with three straight hat tricks. Chelsea Fay and Allison Hahn are tied for second on the team with eight points. Fay has recorded seven goals and one assist, while Hahn has scored four goals and assisted on four others. The Blue Hens also have the reigning CAA Rookie of the Week in Kara Dattellas, who scored one goal, picked up nine groundballs and controlled five draws last week.

Next Up

The Explorers enjoy a trip to sunny California next week, taking on Fresno State on Tuesday (3/5) and San Diego State on Friday (3/8), both on the campus of San Diego State.