For most local high school girls soccer teams, the postseason begins now. While Waterloo, Gibault and Columbia each enter regional play with different regular season records, that slate is wiped clean and every game is win or go home.

Waterloo

Every team wants to be playing their best in the final weeks of the season, and that’s exactly what the Waterloo girls are doing. The Bulldogs are 14-4-1 on the season and had won five straight heading into their match with Triad on Tuesday. Waterloo still has an outside shot to win the Mississippi Valley Conference championship, but head coach Chad Holden is more focused on preparing for the playoffs, which start next Wednesday….

Holden likes what he has seen from his team, which has been on fire since losing to Alton Marquette on April 23.

“I personally think playing strong teams like Marquette make you better and that is what has happened,” he said. “We were scoring a lot of goals but we were also giving up some, but we have only given up one goal in our last four games since.”

Despite the strong play, Waterloo is the number three seed in their regional — one which features conference rivals Highland, Triad and Mascoutah. Holden says the familiarity is both a blessing and a curse.

“We have seen everyone in our regional twice already so we all know what we are capable of doing. But the postseason can always be unpredictable when you have seniors playing what could be their last game ever in an organized team sport,” he said.

Holden is excited about his team’s chances to win the regional, but knows it will be a huge challenge. He thinks any of the four teams is capable of taking the regional title.

“Our regional is a toss-up as to who can win it,” he said. “It’s a shame we will all have to see each other so early in the post

season. Three teams will be going out early.”

If Waterloo is to outlast its conference rivals, the Bulldogs will need to continue their strong balanced play. Waterloo has a potent offense, led by sophomore Erika Lloyd (20 goals and 12 assists) and senior Hope Elliot (16 goals and 14 assists). The Bulldogs also boast a solid defense that includes goalkeeper Mia Reed, who has been in net for six shutouts this year.

Waterloo hosts Belleville East this Wednesday before facing Highland in the Mascoutah Regional semifinal next Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Gibault

The Gibault girls started the season with aspirations to make a deep postseason run. Despite a season full of injuries to key players, the Hawks have not changed expectations.

“We hope to make a strong playoff run,” head coach Matt Reeb said. “Coming off a sectional championship game appearance last year, we hope for the same if not more.

“I believe we have as good a chance as any team in southern Illinois to make a run.”

If Gibault is going to do something special, it would be the ultimate culmination to an up-and-down season. The Hawks, who finished the regular season with a record of 8-10-1, posted two nice victories over Columbia and Carbondale early in the season, but were then hit by a string of injuries to important players including Hannah O’Neill and Abby Hasenstab. The result was a tough four-game midseason losing streak.

Under the stable guidance of senior leaders Kendra Davis, Courtney Olson and Bree Hasenstab, Gibault was able to overcome the adversity. The team has been slowly returning to health in recent weeks, and Reeb says he has seen noted improvement.

“I definitely feel like we are playing better soccer now than we were in the middle of the year,” he said.

Despite the improvement, Reeb still thinks his team can turn it up a notch.

“Our mental focus is now to flip the switch and put the regular season behind us,” he said. “It’s been an up-and-down season with all the injuries, but to stay focused we need to prepare one game at a time and not look ahead.”

The Hawks, the number one seed in the Anna Jonesboro Regional, began their quest for a state title Tuesday against Massac County. Results were not known at press time.

Columbia

Eagles head coach Steve Ross knew the final stretch of the season would be difficult for his team, as they were set to play some of the top teams in the area. And so even when Columbia lost its last five games of the regular season, Ross wasn’t overly concerned.

Columbia dropped a 5-2 contest to O’Fallon last Thursday to end the regular season with a 6-11 record, but Ross isn’t worried about the numbers. The coach thinks his team gained valuable experience at the end of the season, as they battled hard in all the losses, despite missing several players to injuries. Ross said his team came together through the adversity, and is now primed for a deep postseason run.

“Through our final stretch of the season, we encountered a lot of hardships with injuries to our players,” he said. “Because of our physical adversities we have improved the depth of our bench and have become more united at this critical time in the season.”

Furthermore, Ross expects his team to be “100 percent healthy” for the playoffs, making Columbia an extremely dangerous team with a misleading record. Opponents will have to deal with a balanced scoring attack that includes Lauren Kaempfe (7 goals, 4 assists), Blair Wittenbrink (7 goals, 1 assist), and Lauren Tolan (6 goals, 4 assists), as well as a staunch defense led by goalkeeper Allison Riddle.

“We believe we have the tools to compete well this post-season, especially if we limit mistakes and capitalize on scoring opportunities,” Ross said.

The Eagles, the number two seed in their regional, opened postseason play against regional host Freeburg on Tuesday. Results were not known at press time.