Local rivals Columbia and Freeburg-Waterloo will clash once again as Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association action begins to heat up rinks across the region.

The Ice Eagles and Raging Bulldogs will battle at 9 p.m. Thursday at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex in O’Fallon.

Both teams have their sights set on an MVCHA title later this winter. So far, both sit at the top of the Varsity East standings.

Columbia (4-0-2) handed Collinsville its first loss of the season Monday night, 6-0. Nathan Carr and Anderson Judy each scored twice for the Ice Eagles, with Tim Barbee recording a shutout between the pipes.

Last Tuesday, Columbia tied Belleville, 2-2. Drake Ramage and Colin Cygan scored for the Ice Eagles. Collin Schmidt dished out two assists.

Barbee was stellar in this game as well, making 32 saves.

The Ice Eagles hosted Alton on Tuesday night in O’Fallon, winning 5-1. Cygan, Judy, Schmidt, Jack Reuss and Ryan Foster all scored for Columbia.

Freeburg-Waterloo was knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten last Thursday night, falling 7-5 to Belleville. Logan Ganz netted a hat trick and added an assist to lead the Raging Bulldogs. Donovan Knuckles added a goal and two assists.

The Raging Bulldogs returned to the win column Monday night, however, taking down Granite City by a 3-1 count.

Knuckles, a Waterloo High School senior, scored a goal, as did Connor Blair and Gibault Catholic High School freshman Layne Wilkens.

Matthew Bushee was solid in net for Freeburg-Waterloo, making 21 saves.

The past three games of the rivalry between Columbia and Freeburg-Waterloo have been close contests. 

On March 2 of this year, the two teams played to a 3-3 tie.

In 2019, the Raging Bulldogs edged the Ice Eagles, 3-2, on Dec. 19 and won 2-0 on Nov. 26.

Ganz is second so far in the entire MVCHA in scoring with 10 goals and seven assists.

Barbee is among the top goalies in the MVCHA, posting a goals against average below 2.00.

Other upcoming games include Freeburg-Waterloo vs. Highland and Columbia vs. Triad on Monday night in Granite City, and Freeburg-Waterloo vs. Alton on Tuesday night in O’Fallon.

For more recent results and league statistics, visit mvchahockey.org.