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But the Bulldogs withstood the visitors' early pressure and settled in as the match progressed. Waterloo came away with the 2-0 victory.

With the win, the Bulldogs snapped a six-game losing streak against Triad and improved to 8-0-1 overall and to 3-0 atop the league standings. Triad suffered its second consecutive loss, falling to 5-2-1 overall and to 2-1 in league action.

"Rivalry games can definitely be challenging,'' Waterloo coach Chad Holden said. "Even in pregame, I talked about expecting a strong start from Triad. We managed to get through the first 10 or 15 minutes, settled down and ended up playing better as the night progressed.

"We're a young team, probably a little younger than people realize, but I'm really excited about this group."

Waterloo's last win over Triad came on Oct. 6, 2022.

Triad, which was coming off a loss to Althoff, came out strong but was unable to get a lead. Midway through the opening half, the Knights' Colby Wheat got a chance but pushed the ball too far in front. Waterloo goalkeeper Parker Lacroix came strong off his line to snuff out the chance.

"Triad was all over us at the start, but we hung in, we stayed positive and eventually settled in to play pretty well,'' Waterloo senior midfielder Korbin Meister said. "And the best part of tonight, I think, is that we're still capable of playing better."

Waterloo missed on its own golden opportunity midway through the opening half when Trey Breitenstein sent fellow sophomore Kian Day in alone for a breakaway. But Triad keeper Damian Jordan stood strong to keep the match scoreless.

Five minutes later, the Breitenstein-to-Day combo created another chance with Day getting taken down in the penalty area. Senior Trent Glaenzer converted the penalty kick to give Waterloo a 1-0 lead.

Triad responded right away. During a goal-mouth scramble, the Knights' TJ Allison ran onto a loose ball, but his shot was stopped by Lacroix.

The Bulldogs added to their lead in the waning seconds of the opening half. After coming up with a steal, Isaiah Mallery played the ball to Day, whose chipped shot was mishandled by Jordan and ended up in the net.

Up 2-0, Waterloo had a chance to add to its lead early in the second half. But Trent Glaenzer was unable to convert on a second PK opportunity.

"I'm still upset about that one, but I couldn't dwell on it,'' said Glaezner, the Bulldogs' leading scorer with 9 goals and 4 assists. "We still had a big part of the game to play, so I just shook it off and kept playing."

Triad continued to to come at the Bulldogs, but Waterloo stayed tough defensively. The shutout was the sixth of the season for Lacroix, who credited the strong backline play of juniors Austin Martin and Cole Ludwig and sophomores Hudson Maddox and Waylon Glaezner.

"The four of them have played so well in front of me all season,'' said Lacroix, adding that Waterloo has outscored opponents 30-3 this fall. And two of the three goals allowed were on penalty kicks.

"Parker and the four guys in the back have been incredible,'' Trent Glaezner said. "Having those guys play so well in the back, it just opens up all kinds of opportunities for us to do what we need to do when we attack."

It was a frustrating night for Triad.

"Waterloo finished on their chances and we didn't,'' Knights coach Jim Jackson said. "This is always a tough place to play and it's been a good rivalry. But we haven't scored in two games and our guys are starting to feel that pressure.

"Goal scorers, they just have a knack for finding the net. It doesn't have to be pretty; you just have to grind and do whatever it takes. In high school soccer, a lot comes down to energy and right now we're just not seeing results."

The teams will meet in another MVC match on Oct. 9 at Triad.