Pictured, Columbia’s Kennedy Jones (left) and Gibault’s Halle Haudrich (right) go for the ball as Gibault’s Kelly Papenberg and Columbia’s Reagan Mauch look on in first half action Monday night. (Corey Saathoff photo)

The high school girls soccer season kicked off Monday night with all three local teams competing in the Metro Cup.

Rivals Columbia and Gibault faced each other on the turf at Columbia High School on a cold and blustery night.

The young Hawks — who lost 11 seniors from last year’s squad to graduation and feature six freshmen in the starting lineup — were able to withstand constant pressure from the high-powered Eagles in the first half. But the floodgates opened for Columbia in the second half, with the Eagles scoring six times to pull away.

Kennedy Jones, a sophomore transfer from Ursuline Academy in St. Louis, notched a hat trick in her Eagles debut and added an assist. Also scoring goals for Columbia were Fae Harrell, Chloe Graff and Reagan Mauch.

Harrell and Mauch also recorded assists, as did Madelyne Juenger and Jenna Jackson.

Rylee Iorio made two saves to pick up the shutout in net for Columbia.

“It was a great first game. I thought we controlled the speed of play and moved the ball really well,” Columbia head coach Jamey Bridges told the Republic-Times. “We got a lot of opportunities in the first half but could not capitalize. The girls were getting frustrated. At halftime, we didn’t make any adjustments and just reiterated to keep doing what we were doing and it will happen. And it did.”

Bridges praised the play of Harrell, Sophia Bonaldi and Juenger in the middle, and Graff and Blair Wittenbrink on the wings for spreading the field well. This created opportunities for Jones, “who was having all kinds of success getting free,” Bridges said.

The Eagles return several key players from a team that finished 15-6-2 last season with a regional title, so there are high expectations for 2017.

Columbia continues Metro Cup play with a game Friday night against an opponent to be determined.

Gibault battles Mascoutah on Wednesday night at CHS.

In other Metro Cup action, Waterloo opened its season with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss at Belleville West.

The two teams were scoreless until the Maroons notched a goal late in the second half for the victory.

Bailey Bosler made eight saves in net for the Bulldogs, who only mustered one shot on goal of their own for the game.

The Bulldogs, who went 17-4-3 last season and return a number of starters, will battle Springfield at Belleville West on Wednesday night.

For complete previews of all three local girls soccer squads, see the Spring Sports Preview in next week’s issue of the Republic-Times newspaper.