Superman, Captain America and Catwoman have nothing on the girls soccer players in the MAC Red Division.

Romeo soccer coach Trevor Foster said every Macomb Area Conference Red team has superheroes and many were on display when the Bulldogs traveled to Eisenhower in a battle for first place in the division on Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs received a first-half goal from Allison Szalewicz off a corner kick by Lydia Hill, and it was all the scoring Romeo would need in a 1-0 win.

“I told them before the game that all these players on both teams are like superheroes,” Foster said. “They come out here every other night of the week, and get bumped, bruised, hit and knocked over. Then they just go about their day the next day, and nobody really knows what they’ve been through. They put on their cape today when they came out on this field, and they saved the world today.”

The win moved Romeo past Eisenhower for first place in the MAC Red. If the Bulldogs win their final two league games, it would mark the first MAC Red title in school history.

“The players on the field logged a lot of minutes today,” Foster said. “Our motto this year is that every game we have to be gritty, grind it out and get after it. They did it today.”

Szalewicz was in the right place at the right time as the corner kick by Hill caromed right to her and she blasted the rebound in from 15 yards out with 14:20 left in the opening half.

“She’s a sophomore and she has a knack for that kind of thing,” Foster said. “She cleans up those balls on those second chance opportunities. She delivered huge today, not just on the goal, but winning every ball in the air and holding down the center of the field.”

Eisenhower coach Mehrdad Nekoogar credited Romeo for earning the win, adding that his team also played well, but just couldn’t finish off their scoring chances.“The first half was pretty even,” Nekoogar said. “Romeo had one opportunity and capitalized on it. I thought the second half, in my opinion, we dominated the game, and had our opportunities. But at the end of the day, you have to put the ball into the net, and we hit the crossbar and missed a few shots wide.”

The Eagles squandered away several good opportunities to score throughout the match, knocking two shots just wide in the first half. With 21 minutes left in the second half, an Eisenhower free kick from 35 yards out caromed off the crossbar.

“We have to learn to comeback when we’re behind to win games,” Nekoogar said. “We hustled very hard today, but the ball didn’t go our way.”

The final five minutes were tense for Romeo as Eisenhower applied heavy pressure and had several shots, but Bulldog keeper Isabella Stojanovski, who made five saves in the shutout, and the defense stood tall, preserving the win.

“That’s how games end like this and it’s a lot,” Foster said. “It’s important to keep your shape holding your own third and you’re going to get shelled a little bit when you do that. You just have to be one step faster than the other team.

“Bella never ceases to amaze us. She’s made big save after big save against (Eisenhower) over the past two years. Every day she comes out and competes and plays beyond herself.”

Eisenhower goalkeeper Molly Mellott made seven saves, including six in the first half, in the loss.

“She made one very good save in the first half, but only had one save in the second half,” Nekoogar said. “It was a good game, but they beat us for the second time.”

The win improved Romeo’s record to 9-3-1 overall, 6-1-1 league. The Bulldogs can wrap up the division crown with wins at home over Ford II next Monday, and Anchor Bay on May 15.

“We have to work on showing up big for every game,” Foster said. “We have two games left to win the first-ever MAC Red title for Romeo. This isn’t it today, it’s just a piece of the puzzle.”

The loss dropped Eisenhower’s record to 12-2-0 overall, 6-2-0 league, with both losses coming against the Bulldogs. Nekooger said a league title would be nice, but his focus for his team is on the upcoming district tournament.

“We need to look ahead,” Nekoogar said. “The MAC Red is nice to win, but it’s not what we’re aiming for. We have to play against the good teams like Romeo and other good teams in our district, and win.”