The annual kick-off to the girls soccer season, the Metro Cup, began Monday night with Waterloo, Gibault and Columbia participating.

“I enjoy starting the season off with a tournament,” Gibault girls soccer coach Matt Reeb said about the cup. “We get a few games in right away and it’s a good assessment of where we are at as a team and lets me know what we need to work on in the next couple weeks.”

Reeb’s Hawks took on Centralia in the Nike Pool of the Metro Cup on Monday at Metro East Lutheran. The Hawks topped the Panthers 8-0 with Hannah O’Neil notching the first goal of the season.

Waterloo also opened play Monday against O’Fallon in the Adidas Pool in Edwardsville, falling 7-0.

“They were just too fast and too deep for us to do much of anything,” WHS girls soccer coach Chad Holden said. The Bulldogs are playing in the large school tournament pool.

Columbia is hosting the Puma Pool of the Metro Cup, but didn’t have its first game until Tuesday night. The Eagles took on Anna Jonesboro. Results were not available by press time but can be found at republictimes.net/sports.

Eagles soccer coach Steve Ross says the tournament is a good indicator of where the team is now. He says it also “breaks down the monotony… instead of practicing three straight weeks.” It also gives the girls a chance to get into “game shape.”

Gibault took on Belleville East Tuesday night, not a part of the tournament, and will resume cup play on Wednesday.

Waterloo will face Mt. Vernon in its next Metro Cup game on Wednesday.