PHILADELPHIA - La Salle sophomore Kendall Kreider scored a pair of goals to help the Explorers get right in the middle of the Atlantic 10 playoff picture with a 3-1 win over Saint Joseph's on Friday afternoon at DeVincent Field. With a 3-3 A-10 mark, the Blue and Gold are tied for third with four other teams with two league games to play.

Senior Jenica Miller got the hosts on the board first in the 15th minute when she deflected a shot from freshman Megan Kida into the cage for her second goal of the year. She leads the team with 11 points.

The game remained at 1-0 until after halftime when Kreider took a long pass from classmate Sophie Lozowski and beat the SJU keeper to make it 2-0 in the 44th minute. Saint Joseph's applied more pressure and scored with 15 minutes left when Jackalyn Pauling took a rebound after a Rachel Hartman save to cut the deficit to just one.

With just over three minutes remaining, the Hawks (5-8, 3-3 A-10) called timeout and removed their keeper for a kicking back. The Explorers took advantage when junior Gina Smith sent a long pass into the circle that was deflected by Kreider into the cage for an insurance tally.

Hartman had six stops for La Salle (6-7, 3-3 A-10) while Ameila Deibler had five saves. 

La Salle had 11 shots, while SJU had 10. The Explorers held a 6-3 advantage in corners.

With two A-10 games remaining, the Explorers are tied with UMass, Saint Joseph's and Lock Haven with identical 3-3 records. After a non-conference tilt with Towson on Sunday, La Salle will visit UMass and then host Saint Francis the next weekend.