Columbus Catholic extended its win streak to five Saturday, defeating the Lake Forest (lll.) Scouts 19-14 on an extremely hot, humid afternoon in South Florida. The win improved the Explorers’ record to 10-1. The previously unbeaten Scouts, #5 in

the preseason Midwest Select Lacrosse rankings, dropped to 3-1. The Explorers turned up the heat on their visitors from Illinios in the first half, jumping out to a 14-4 lead. Columbus Catholic was dominant from the opening whistle. Senior Michael Bulnes opened the scoring for the Explorers only a minute and a half into the game on an unassisted goal in which he bulldozed his way past two defenders en route to the score. Moments later, he victimized the Scouts’ goalie again as he alertly stole the goalie’s outlet pass to the defender and slammed home the easy goal. Bulnes would go on to score two more goals in the game. Lake Forest’s recognition that they would have to summon more than one defender in their attempt to contain the Senior led to three Bulnes assists. Not to be outdone, Seniors Nicky Quintairos and Alec Carreras each notched hat tricks to go along with three and two assists respectively. These two veterans not only finished well during the game, but they are clearly counted on by Coach Delang to bring hustle, energy and flow to the offense. Carreras’ effort was on display on Senior Danny Rancano’s first half goal. Following a face off win by Jimmy Perry, Carreras took the Perry pass, dodged and spun past his defender and as the Scouts’ defense slid to impede Carreras, he fed to the open Rancano. Quintairos figured prominently on a late first half goal by Senior LSM Matt Larrea. After leaping high to intercept a cross field Lake Forest pass, he found a streaking Larrea who wound up and hit paydirt. Larrea, who scored two goals, had another important responsibility Saturday and that was to help neutralize the Scouts’ Senior attackman Lukas Munoz (Bucknell). The towering and physically imposing Munoz was easy to spot on the field and was a load for the Columbus defensive unit. Munoz was held to one goal Saturday thanks to the strength of Larrea, speedy help defense from Junior Alec Cancio, and the goaltending efforts of Junior Jon Nickas. Nickas, who recorded 15 saves through three quarters, has a solid .60 save

percentage on the season. Explorer fans have come to expect dominance at the face off x and Saturday was no different. Seniors Jimmy Perry, Nicky Quintairos and Sophomore Mike Perry combined to win 23 out of 32 face offs. Coach Delang substituted liberally in the second half. Lake Forest actually threatened to make a stunning comeback, outscoring the Explorers 10-7 after the intermission. The first half deficit however was simply too great and the Explorers held on for the win. Columbus returns to action Tuesday March 25th at home against Archbishop McCarthy. Columbus – Bulnes (4 goals, 3 assists); Quintairos (3 goals, 3 assists); Carreras (3 goals, 2 assists); Larrea (2 goals); Rancano (2 goals); Brais (2 goals); T. Volovar (1 goal); M. Perry (1 goal); A. Volovar (1 goal); Rosabal (1 assist); S. Cancio (1 assist); Quesada (1 assist); Calveiro (1 assist). Face-offs: J. Perry (10 out of 14); M. Perry 5 out of 7); Quintairos (8 out of 11). Goalies : Nickas (15 saves); Eskra (5 saves).