Junior Christian Lerma continued his rampant pace through University Interscholastic League (UIL) District 9-6A competition, scoring two goals and pushing Jesuit past Lake Highlands, 4-2, on Tuesday evening at Wildcat-Ram Stadium.
 
Seniors Chase Burciaga and Tommy Flaim joined Lerma in the scoring column, capping an impressive offensive performance for the Rangers (7-2-1, 4-0-1 UIL 9-6A). Lake Highlands out-shot Jesuit, 11-7 while procuring four corner kick chances, but the Ranger goalkeeper tandem of senior Luke Ostrander and junior Joseph Banul stood tall once again, including a three-save second half for Banul, who snuffed out a late Wildcat rally.
 
Burciaga, who signed with Johns Hopkins University last week, struck early in the first half, finding the back of the net six minutes into the opening stanza off of a deflected free kick to hand the Rangers an early lead. With 17:04 left in the first, Lerma was fouled inside the box to provide Flaim with a penalty opportunity. The Washington University-St. Louis commit responded with a scorcher into the lower right corner to spot the visitors a 2-0 lead. Lerma finished Jesuit's first half scoring in the 29th minute, running a ball from Burciaga past the goalkeeper to send Jesuit into the break with a 3-0 advantage.
 
Lake Highlands snagged momentum in the second half, forcing Banul to make three saves within the first 11 minutes of the second half and scoring a goal. Lerma returned the Rangers' lead back to three goals with his ninth goal of the year.
 
The junior scored after senior Reilly Minigutti sent a ball through the Lake Highlands defense to the waiting feet of Lerma, who was able to beat the Wildcat goalkeeper once again to record his third multi-goal game of the season. Lake Highlands scored with 6:30 remaining to reduce the Jesuit lead to two goals, but the Rangers were able to shut out the Wildcats down the stretch to remain unbeaten in district play.
 
On Friday, Feb. 10, Jesuit will travel to Alfred J. Loos Stadium in Addison, Texas to battle W.T. White. Kickoff for the first meeting of the year between the two teams will take place at 7:30 p.m.