Columbia’s Connor Jackson looks to push the ball upfield against Triad on Thursday night. (Corey Saathoff photo)

It’s the soccer match all of Monroe County wants to see. Defending Class 2A state champion Waterloo will battle cross-county rival Columbia — the 2014 Class 1A state champ — for the regional championship 7 p.m. Saturday in Columbia.

The Bulldogs (16-3-3) got two second half goals from leading scorer Ben Huels in a 2-0 victory over Marquette to open Class 2A regional play Thursday. The Eagles (16-2-4) followed with a 2-0 win over Triad to set up Saturday’s showdown.

Huels scored his first goal off a great feed from teammate Ryan Stites. His second goal came on a penalty kick. Waterloo’s defense allowed just two shots on goal the entire game as freshman goalie Sam Ward recorded the shutout. Waterloo had allowed 14 goals over its past five games entering the postseason.

For the Eagles, Noah Jorns scored with just more than a minute remaining in the first half after both Columbia and Triad had played evenly in their regional match. Jake Bridges scored off a nifty pass from Riley Hubler early in the second half and Columbia’s defense put the clamps down on Triad from there.

The gates open at 6 p.m. for Saturday’s regional title match on the turf athletic field at CHS.