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Romeo hosted the Lady Chiefs of Utica in a rare Saturday game April 26. The score was 0-0 at the half. Utica opened the scoring on a successful penalty kick in the second half. “Keeper Sam Tomaschko almost stopped it,” Romeo coach Brian Riederer said. Cortney Kormos tied the game on a nice outside-the-box shot. “Cortney has really worked to improve her game. It showed on this goal.”

The game ended as a 1-1 tie. “I’m not making excuses but the varsity team as selected has only been together for one of our nine games due to injury or absence,” Riederer noted. “The good news is that other girls have stepped up to the varsity and have played well for us. We have been competitive in almost every game we have played.”

He praised the play of Arianna Fuoco, Tomaschko, Margaret Binroth, Megan Michaels and Erika Mischley. Freshmen playing in the contest were Portia Muddel and Lauren Goodreau.

On April 23 the Bulldogs met nemesis L’Anse Creuse North. “This was a game that everyone was looking forward to against the defending league champs. However, it was over early,” said the coach. LCN won 6-0 with three goals coming off Romeo players. “That happening once in a game is not all that unusual but three shows how aggressive we were playing around the net. You have to be lucky as well as good to win.”

Riederer said as a coach he is proud that his girls did not give up and played the entire 80 minutes. “It just didn’t happen in this game. Missing four starters didn’t help either. The girls stayed positive despite the deficit.”

Playing well in a losing effort were Marisa Balmaceda, Stephanie Smigiel, Mischley and Erika Madden. Tomaschko has 12 saves in the first half while Tina Mariani was credited with six in the second half in goal.

“We just never got the offense going,” said Riederer. Romeo only had six shots on goal in the game.

Red Division foe Grosse Pointe North defeated Romeo 6-0 in a game on April 21. “They were the better team today,” said Riederer. GPN held a shooting edge of 19-5 in the game. “We had our moments of playing well but not enough of them to hold off a quality team like North.” Tomaschko and Mariani shared duties in net for the Bulldogs and were credited for 13 saves combined. GPN was a crossover opponent for Romeo.

The Bulldogs will have a rematch with L’Anse Creuse North on Wednesday, May 7. The team plays at Fraser on May 9. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.