The Columbia Eagles Hockey Club honored one of its players during Thursday’s game against Triad at McKendree Metro Rec Plex in O’Fallon. 

Jacob Nelson, who wears No. 12 for the Eagles, is still recovering from serious injuries sustained in a Sept. 1 crash in Monroe County that killed Columbia High School classmate Crawford Bryant. 

With Thursday being Dec. 12, Columbia picked up a 3-1 win in honor of Nelson. Scoring goals for the Eagles were Cam Ax, Mason Niedbalski and Jack Reuss, who also recorded two assists. 

Reuss leads the team in scoring this season with 21 goals and four assists.

Columbia (8-2-1) kept the good times rolling with a 7-3 victory over East Alton-Wood River on Monday. Carter Lynch scored twice for the Eagles, who helped goalie Ryder Kelly win in his first varsity start. 

The Eagles faced O’Fallon on Tuesday and will battle Belleville this coming Monday night. 

Meanwhile, the Freeburg-Waterloo Raging Bulldogs are taking their lumps against tough opponents. 

On Monday, the Raging Bulldogs (8-5-1) lost 5-1 to Granite City. Parker Stoll scored the lone goal for Freeburg-Waterloo. 

Last Tuesday, it was a 6-2 loss at the hands of Edwardsville. Layne Wilkens and Braden Neff each recorded a goal and assist for the Raging Bulldogs. 

Wilkens leads the team in scoring this season with 14 goals and 10 assists. 

The schedule remains tough for Freeburg-Waterloo in the near future. Following another match against Edwardsville on Tuesday, the Raging Bulldogs face Granite City on Thursday and Edwardsville again this coming Monday night.