On Tuesday night when the two teams squared off again, this time in Reinbeck, GC/G-R was riding a three-game winning streak and looking to send a message to the Class 1A No. 4 Sailors that things weren’t going to go like last time.

“I challenged these guys to show me what they’ve got,” Rebels head coach Jon Dinsdale said. “They are No. 4 in the state and I am proud of these guys, I just told them to lay it all on the line for me, show me what you are capable of doing and we will work on it from here.”

That message was heard loud and clear when junior Travis Kuester scored in the third minute off a pass from sophomore Eli Thede and the Rebels took an early 1-0 lead.

The game would remain 1-0 until the late stages of the first half, when Raymond Seidel scored for Waterloo Columbus in the 38th minute to tie it up before halftime. Despite being up for most of the first half, the Rebels struggled offensively and were on their heels for much of the opening half.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON • Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck sophomore Eli Thede, right, takes a shot at the goal during the second half of the Rebels’ 2-1 overtime loss to Waterloo Columbus on Tuesday.

Early on in the second it was clear the boys had a new aggression, however, as brothers Eli and Walker Thede specifically were pelting Sailors’ goalkeeper Joe Nathe with shot after shot. Those tries couldn’t quite find the back of the net, however, and after 80 minutes of play the score was still tied at 1-1.

The trend continued in the first overtime period, as GC/G-R goalkeeper Bryce Schick turned away a few early shots and the Thedes continued to have good chances at the back of the net, but still couldn’t quite finish. Then, with time running down on the first overtime, Ehleeya To got loose on a run and finished with a goal in the 90th minute, ending the game and giving Waterloo Columbus a 2-1 victory.

Dinsdale said his guys were visibly frustrated with the loss, but they honestly should be proud of how they competed.

“There’s nothing to be mad about, they worked their tails off,” Dinsdale said. “I had guys crying because they wanted it so bad and they work so hard. Sometimes you have to fail to succeed yourself even more, so hopefully they learned that today. We’ve got two weeks left and we are going to go for everything, that’s our goal.”

Eli Thede finished the game with seven shots, three of them on goal, and an assist while Walker had eight shots, one on goal. Dinsdale said those two have been huge all season for his squad.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON • Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck junior Travis Kuester, left, looks at the ball as it sails towards the goal in the second half of the Rebels’ loss to Waterloo Columbus on Tuesday. Kuester had the lone goal of the day for GC/G-R in the third minute.

“The dynamic duo, you could probably hear me saying ‘go Thede boys!’ from the sideline, they are awesome,” Dinsdale said. “Eli has that wicked left foot and then Walker is just so competitive, he’s been playing since he was a freshman. They were both so heartbroken about tonight’s upset, loss, whatever you want to call it, but we will be back and ready to go.”

Schick finished the game with six saves along with the two shots on goal, and he made quite a few strong plays on the ball that stopped any Sailor (10-4) chances. Dinsdale said moving forward his Rebels (6-4) need to still continue getting better to reach their ultimate goals.

“We have talked about ball control and communication,” he said. “We’ve had our issues with that, we just hadn’t been playing as a team lately, but we had a nice talk a couple days ago about what we want, what are our goals, where do we want to be in two, three weeks? We want to be in Des Moines.”

One thing Dinsdale isn’t worried about, he said, is his guy’s desire to return to the state championships in Des Moines after missing last year.

“I think after tonight the boys want it more than ever,” he said. “They’ve had a heck of a run their high school career, why not end it in Des Moines?”

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

The Rebels have two games left to close out the season, both at home. First they face off with Hudson on Friday at 5:30 p.m., then they close out the season against Iowa Falls-Alden next Monday.

Waterloo Columbus 2, Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck 1, OT

At Reinbeck

W. Columbus 1 0 1 — 2

GC/G-R 1 0 0 — 1

First Half

GC/G-R — Travis Kuester (Eli Thede), 2:42.

WC — Raymond Seidel, 37:35.

Second Half

No scoring.

Overtime

WC — Ehleeya To, 89:20.

Goalkeepers — WC: Joe Nathe (6 shots on goal, 5 saves); GC/G-R: Bryce Schick (7-6).

Shots — WC 15, GC/G-R 21.

Shots on goal — WC 7, GC/G-R 6.

Corner kicks — WC 3, GC/G-R 4.