PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle field hockey team won its seventh straight non-conference home game, and ninth in the past 11 games overall, in a 3-1 victory over visiting Monmouth on Sunday at Hank DeVincent Field. All three scorers were underclassmen for the Explorers.

One week after scoring a season-high six goals in a win over Saint Louis, the offense remained hot. Sophomore April Stein got the Blue and Gold on the scoreboard early, when she waited on the post for a pass from senior Juliana Carfagno in the 24th minute.

"The opportunity to get on the board first really created a lot of momentum for us," head coach Michelle Marks Salmi said. "We did a nice job of possessing the ball and were able to secure a win against a very good Monmouth team."

The game remained at 1-0 until the 51st minute when freshman Megan Kida blasted a shot to the back of the cage after a penalty corner. Seniors Jenica Miller and Emily Vasey had the assists. For Miller, it was her team-best sixth helper of the season, which is good for second in the Atlantic 10 and just out of the top 10 in a season at La Salle.

Sophomore Katie O'Grady made the most of a penalty stroke in the 58th minute to put the Explorers ahead 3-0. Monmouth (3-9) got on the board three minutes later when Rachel Konowal scored on a rebound but the La Salle defense remained composed in the final nine minutes to secure the win.

Junior Rachel Hartman had five saves in the victory.

Monmouth held a 14-7 advantage in shots and a 13-11 lead in corners.

The Explorers have not dropped a non-conference home game since falling to Pacific on September 20, 2013. 

La Salle (4-6) hits the road this weekend for two important Atlantic 10 contests at Richmond on Friday and VCU on Sunday. 

"We have some momentum heading into our A-10 weekend versus Richmond and VCU," Salmi said.