On a beautiful south Florida afternoon the Patriots of American Heritage Plantation traveled to Miami to play the Explorers of Columbus. Although Heritage was 5-0 and Columbus 3-2 coming into the game it should be noted that Columbus had lost to two very strong teams (Gulliver and American Heritage Boca). The Patriots looked at this as their very first big test of the 2016 season. The first half was a dominated by strong defensive play by both teams. The half ended with the score 4-3 in favor of the Patriots. Strong defensive play and good goaltending also continued into the third quarter. The third quarter ended with no goals being scored. There was more offensive firepower in the fourth quarter with Heritage scoring 4 and Columbus scoring 1 for a final score of 8-4 in favor of the Patriots. Columbus goals were scored by Mike Perry, Austin Volovar, Kyle Youmans and Daniel Courtney. Columbus goalie Leo Guerra had a very good game and made some impressive saves. He kept his team in the game. American Heritage goals were scored by Jarett Alfero (Rutgers), Jason Brown, Matt Kirchmier, Will Welch, and Jacob Couvetier. Joseph Weisberg, American Heritage’s goalie made 14 saves behind strong defenders Jason Brown, Dawson Fisher and Blake Wooden. The Explorers take on the St. Brendan Sabres on Monday and the Patriots meet the Raiders of St. Thomas Aquinas on Tuesday. Many thanks to the Columbus parents who provided the names of their scorers and goalie so that their names could be included in this report.