Briefly In Sports

Romeo reaches tennis semis

Laguna Beach High junior Benito Romeo had an impressive run in the boys’ 16s division at the South Bay Fall Junior Open tournament, which concluded Sunday in Manhattan Beach.

After defeating local favorite Matthew Sumen 6-2, 7-5 in the first round, Romeo had a big win over second-seeded Kelly Dickson from Temecula, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. In the quarterfinals Romeo defeated Brennon Faith from Redondo Beach, also 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. The semifinal was a very long and close match and after splitting the first two sets 6-3, 4-6, Romeo was only one game away from reaching the final before losing a hard-fought third set, 7-5, to Darius Frick of Oceanside.

Romeo said he was very happy about his play all through this tournament.

“My serve has been a big weapon for me and my game is improving all around,” he said. “It would have been nice to win the whole thing and I got really close, but in sports there is always a next chance, as far as you keep on working hard on your game and keep a positive attitude. I am very excited about the upcoming high school season. Last year we went all the way to the CIF finals for the first time in 26 years. This year I hope I can give my good contribution again to go even farther. I want to thank my coaches Aaron Tallarico and Jimmy Gleason, for being not only my coaches but also my mentors. Last week Coach Tallarico gave me a very nice tennis T-shirt, which I wore all through the tournament for good Karma.”

Haug excels for GW

Laguna Beach High product Erik Haug recently named George Washington University Colonials Athlete of the Week.

Haug, a goalie, has been excelling this year for the George Washington University men’s soccer team. The redshirt sophomore made three saves on Rider’s eight total shots Oct. 4. That brought Haug to a 0.78 goals-against average, while the GW defense had four clean sheets in nine matches and hasn’t allowed a goal in over 187 minutes of play.

The Athlete of the Week honor had been shared by only two other men’s soccer players over the past few years.

George Washington (6-5) has gone on to drop its first two Atlantic-10 matches and plays at La Salle tonight.