Columbia’s Blair Wittenbrink gains control of the ball during last week’s sectional title win against Althoff. (Corey Saathoff photo)

The Columbia and Waterloo girls soccer teams both ended their seasons in heartbreaking fashion Tuesday night.

The Eagles lost to Quincy Notre Dame, 1-0, in the Class 1A Quincy Supersectional. Columbia finished with a record of 19-3-1 and ended up just one win shy of advancing to state.

“Hats off to them for a great battle,” Columbia head coach Jamey Bridges said of Quincy Notre Dame.

Bridges said a huge factor in the supersectional showdown was having to play it on Quincy’s home turf.

“That was a difference maker,” he said. “They are a good team that will probably win the state championship. I thought we competed well and there could’ve easily been a different result.”

Bridges said his team played well defensively all season, allowing just eight goals in 23 games.

“We scored a lot of goals and had a lot of options,” he added. “Our seniors (Madelyne Juenger, Blair Wittenbrink, Morgan Glaenzer, Sam Bostick, Morgan Hutchinson and Kalee Jackson) were great leaders and brought a lot of experience. They left a legacy that will be felt for a lot of years.”

Still, Columbia returns plenty of talent for the 2018 season, including leading scorer Kennedy Jones (22 goals, seven assists) and Fae Harrell (12 goals, 14 assists), Reagan Mauch (11 goals, five assists) and Chloe Graff (nine goals, nine assists).

“Our future is bright; you’ll continue to hear about Columbia soccer,” he said.

Waterloo lost to Chatham Glenwood, 1-0, in the Class 2A Chatham Glenwood Sectional semifinal. The game was scoreless until Chatham Glenwood scored with just seven minute remaining. Waterloo finished with a season record of 12-5-4.

Waterloo head coach Chad Holden said his team lost to a very solid opponent.

“I thought we played a hard game and had our chances but in postseason soccer, you have to capitalize on those chances to move on,” Holden said. “I am very proud of the way we played, though. The girls left everything on the field and we couldn’t have asked for more from them. We had some chances toward the end of the game to tie it up, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”

The future also looks bright for the Bulldogs, who will return leading scorer Sydney Luedeman (23 goals, six assists) and other key players such as Paige Kinzinger (six goals, 12 assists) next season.

For photos from Waterloo’s regional title win over Carbondale, click here. For photos from Columbia’s sectional title win, click here.