Waterloo’s Dalton Blanchard and Columbia’s Micah Peters fight for the ball during last Wednesday’s soccer showdown. Visit www.republictimes.net/photo-store. (John Spytek photo)

The Columbia, Gibault and Waterloo soccer squads have kept pretty busy schedules of late, preparing for a postseason that looms ahead in just a couple of weeks.

Playing its third rivalry match of the season, the two previous being against Gibault, Columbia edged Waterloo last Wednesday at Waterloo High School, 1-0.

The game was scoreless at halftime with pretty even play between the cross-county rivals. In the second half, Drew Shaffer somehow found the net for the Eagles on an assist from Micah Peters. 

Sam Ward made five saves for the Bulldogs. 

Columbia preceded its win over Waterloo with an 8-0 victory over Salem. Alex Barton, Karson Bridges and Brad Meyer scored two goals each in that win. 

The Eagles (13-1-3) recorded 0-0 ties against Mattoon and Chatham-Glenwood over the weekend in the Titan Invitational at Chatham-Glenwood High School. 

Columbia began CYC Tourney play Monday with a 1-0 win over Liberty (Wentzville). Barton scored a first half goal and goalkeeper Alec Venhaus made nine saves to preserve the shutout.

The Eagles continued CYC play against Trinity on Tuesday and will battle Washington on Wednesday. 

Columbia will be playing the remainder of the season without leading scorer Riley Hubler, who tore an ACL during a Sept. 11 match against Highland. He led the team with 20 goals and six assists.

“Yeah, (it’s) a big blow for us but we have responded well,” Columbia assistant coach Jamey Bridges said.

Karson Bridges has 12 goals and seven assists and Barton has 11 goals and five assists for the Eagles.

Gibault (9-3-2) is looking playoff ready ahead of a tough slate of games in the coming week.

The Hawks won last Tuesday at Mater Dei, 6-0, with goals scored by Dylan Altadonna, Logan Doerr, Jacob Feldker, Karson Huels, Antonio Pepe and Tate Schilling. Will Janson picked up the shutout in net.

On Thursday, Gibault edged Granite City, 3-2. Johnny Adams, Ryan Swindle and Doerr all scored for the Hawks, with goalkeeper Connor Olson making five saves.

Gibault trounced Metro-East Lutheran on Monday, 10-0. Doerr recorded a hat trick and Huels added two goals and an assist. Janson picked up another shutout in net.

Doerr (12 goals, seven assists) and Huels (11 goals, nine assists) currently share the team scoring lead. Schilling has five goals and four assists.

Gibault hosted Belleville East on Tuesday and will host Althoff on Thursday, Collinsville on Monday and O’Fallon on Tuesday. 

Waterloo (8-7-2) is fighting hard in all of its contests of late but coming up just short. The Bulldogs opened CYC Tourney play Monday with a 1-0 loss to CBC.

The ‘Dogs tied Francis Howell Central on Tuesday, 0-0, and continue CYC play against Chaminade on Wednesday. 

Derek Young leads Waterloo with eight goals and three assists. Eli Gardner is next with three goals and 12 assists. Brady Marshall has four goals and three assists.

The Class 2A regional soccer schedule will be announced by the IHSA this Friday afternoon.