The Columbus Catholic Explorers played two games within a 20 hour span this weekend and came away with a split. Friday night, Columbus toppedd Ransom Everglades 16-4 in a rain shortened game which was called just after the beginning of the second half on account of lightning. Saturday afternoon Columbus came back from an early 3 goal deficit against Lake Forest, Ill. only to narrowly lose 10-9. Lake Forest stunned the Explorers while scoring the go ahead goal with 34 seconds left in the game. Storm clouds hovering above Ransom Everglades Friday night were an ominous sign for the Raiders. CC scored early and often in what can only be described as a convincing win. Kyle Glaser opened the scoring less than a minute into the game. 20 seconds later, Mike Perry joined the fun and it was off to the races. Scoring in this game came from everywhere – attack, middies and even the defense! At the 8:24 mark of the 1st quarter, Defender Gaby Santos picked up an errant ground ball and advanced up the right sideline. Midway between midfield and Goal Line Extended, he passed to Nick Quesada who quickly passed it back to Santos for the finish past the Raiders’ goalie for a 3-1 lead with eight minutes left in the opening quarter. The next few minutes must have seemed like an eternity for the Raiders’ goalie as CC scored 5 quick goals in rapid succession spreading the wealth among Glaser, Quesada, Austin Volovar, Chris Melendez and “Cachi” Gonzalez. The Explorers continued the strong offense into the second quarter. “Cachi” Gonzalez scored two goals moments into the quarter, sandwiching yet another goal by Kyle Glaser off a feed from Chris Melendez, extending the lead to 10-2. By the end of the half, the Columbus had recorded another 5 goals to extend the lead to 15-4. Not to be overlooked was the exceptional defense of Santos, Alec Cancio, Sebastian Polo and Sebastian Fernandez. Their stout play led to 8 first half saves by Jon Nickas. Mike Perry would score yet another goal less than a minute into the third quarter. That’s when the clouds held back no longer and a nearby lightning bolt led the officials to put a halt to the game. Doppler radar throughout the ensuing 45 minute rain delay showed no sign of the weather letting up and the game was called. Midday Saturday against Lake Forest started promisingly. Mike Perry won the opening face off and raced untouched for a one on one opportunity against the Lake Forest goalie. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know who typically ends up on the winning side of that sort of match up and CC enjoyed a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Explorers could not capitalize on that momentum and came up empty the remainder of the first quarter. CC, in unfamiliar territory, trailed 3-1 at the end of the first period. The second quarter was more kind to the Explorers. Gritty defense by the D-poles, supported by a fine defensive effort in the midfield, led to 19 saves in the contest by Goalie Jon Nickas. It would present Nickas’ highest save output on the season. More importantly, it came in a game where it was desperately needed against a strong Lake Forest team that was 20-4 last year. By the midway point, CC had closed the deficit to 5-4 on the strength of two goals by “Cachi” Gonzalez and 1 by Kyle Glaser. CC had evened things by the end of the third following goals by Nick Quesada and another from “Cachi”, leading to a 6-6 all square score. Quesada’s goal was simply a thing of beauty. Playing with a man up advantage, Quesada converted a give and go bounce shot past the outstretched arms of Scouts’ goalie off another Cachi assist. In the 4th, things looked good for CC as they earned a hard fought 9-6 lead with four minutes left. Unfortunately, untimely penalties and miscues ended in a heart breaking defeat. It was a game that frankly neither team deserved to lose. CC returns to action Monday against University School. COL (11-4) d. RE 16-4: Mike Perry 4 goals, 1 assist. Kyle Glaser 4 goals. Nick Quesada 2 goals, 1 assist. Alec Gonzalez 2 goals, 1 assist. Austin Volovar 2 goals. Chris Melendez 1 goal, 1 assist. Gaby Santos 1 goal. Jon Nickas 8 saves. LF d. COL (11-4) 10-9: Alec Gonzalez 3 goals, 1 assist. Nick Quesada 2 goals, 1 assist. Mike Perry 2 goals. Kyle Glaser 1 goal, 1 assist. Anthony Rosabal 1 goal. Jon Nickas 19 saves.