Columbus Catholic returned to the WIN column on the strength of a thrilling 11-9 victory over district rival Gulliver Prep at Columbus Field Friday night. Tied 9-9 at the end of the 3rd quarter, Columbus capitalized on two unanswered goals in the last four minutes of play to surge past the Raiders in this match up of District 31 titans. FLN should consider these teams for their next broadcast of South Florida high school lacrosse games.  Friday’s game would have been an instant classic as it had 18 lead changes and stellar play in all phases by both squads. The win raised Columbus’ record to 3-2. Previously unbeaten Gulliver dropped to 5-1. Alex “Cachi” Gonzalez led the way for the Columbus Explorers, drawing first blood three minutes into the game with a rip off stick high across the goal mouth from the left alley. Gonzalez would score five goals on the night and narrowly missed several additional scores due to excellent goal tending by Gulliver’s Lucas Rego, who had 16 saves. The lead was short lived when Trevor Pelletier scored for Gulliver only two minutes later, evening the score at 1-1. With four minutes left in the first quarter, Kyle Glaser found speedy Columbus middie Brando Caveiro cutting alone through the heart of the defense to give Columbus the lead 2-1. Pelletier then scored two more quick goals including one as the last few seconds of the quarter expired to give Gulliver the lead at the end of the first, 3-2. It did not take long for the Explorers to tie things up. Eight ticks off the second quarter clock was all that was needed for middie Mike Perry to win the face off and bull doze his way through the defense en route to the score. Superior strength from Perry and quick reflexes from Anthony Rosabal gave the Columbus face off team to a 75/25 advantage on the night. Columbus would take a 4-3 lead early in the second quarter when Gonzalez seemingly came out of nowhere to intercept an errant Gulliver pass near the right back side of the crease. One on one with Rego, Gonzalez threw a fake and slammed the shot to the back of the net off stick low. The Explorer fans’ enthusiasm over the lead was, however, short lived. Gulliver scored twice to take a 5-4 lead at the half following goals from Tonarelly and Walker. The halftime deficit at home was an unfamiliar sight for Explorer fans. Strong defense and timely, excellent saves from Columbus goalie Christian Sardinas (13 saves), starting in place of the injured Jon Nickas, had kept things close in the first half. However, it was clear that the proverbial scoring faucet had to be opened up. Coach Jim Delang and his staff obviously did a masterful job at the half of making adjustments to stimulate the offense en route to five third quarter goals against a stout Gulliver defense. Nick Quesada tied things up for Columbus with a frozen rope shot from the right side only two minutes into the third quarter. Quesada had one of his best games of the season and was a constant scoring threat. Cachi Gonzalez added two more goals as the quarter unfolded. Gulliver though had visions of wresting District 31 supremacy from the Explorers and scored four goals of their own in the third. The Raiders took a 9-7 lead with two minutes left in the quarter. Mike Perry trimmed the deficit to 9-8 seconds later after winning yet another face off and weaving his way through the Raider defense. Then came the shot of the night for the Explorers. With only 30 seconds left in the third quarter, Defenseman Alec Cancio raced to a ground ball in the back left alley, turned on the jets as he sprinted past several Raider defenders who tried valiantly to knock the ball out of his stick, and suddenly came to a spot 12 yards in front of the goal, alone and one on one with Rego. Cancio delivered a badly needed goal for the Explorers to tie the score at 9-9. Seven tense minutes of play in the fourth quarter yielded no scoring. It was still anyone’s game. That’s when Kyle Glaser and Anthony Rosabal came to the rescue for Columbus. Rosabal took a marvelous shot on goal from ten yards out that was saved by Rego. Unfortunately for Gulliver, the ball ricocheted off his stick and found its way to the thankful Glaser, whose finish gave Columbus a lead it would not relinquish, 10-9. With 1:42 left in the game, the Raiders thought they had evened the score yet again. Their hopes were dashed as goalie Christian Sardinas made a brilliant save of the ground ball shot and triumphantly fired the ball down field. Gonzalez would add an insurance goal in the final minute of the game to secure the win for Columbus. Columbus is back in action Monday (3/2) at Palmetto. Gulliver travels to Stoneman Douglas on Tuesday (3/3). COL: Gonzalez 5 goals, 1 assist. Perry 2 goals. Cancio 1 goal, 1 assist. Glaser 1 goal, 1 assist. Quesada 1 goal. Sardinas 13 saves. GP: Pelletier 3 goals. Buttnaru 2 goals, 1 assist. Walker 1 goal. Gautier 1 goal. Hassan 1 goal. Tonarelly 1 goal. Rego 16 saves.