Bethlehem Steel FC has seen countless faces rep the navy and gold over the years, but only a select few have been there since the beginning. There is captain James Chambers, of course, and assistant coach Stephen Hogan and head coach Brenden Burke have both been around since the start. But one player you might overlook is Union Academy goalkeeper Tomás Romero. The club has had eight different goalkeepers start between the posts over the past three-plus seasons, but the 18-year-old Romero’s performance last weekend was one of the best Burke has seen in his time with Steel.
“A huge performance from Tomás in our last game and he was named to the bench for [USL Championship]’s Team of the Week, which is just phenomenal,” said Burke. “I saw a lot of progression, just in his explosiveness, now at this level. He’s able to make saves that certainly two years ago he probably wasn’t able to make.
There are still things that we can improve on, but at 18 and to have all the experience that he has now through our team has just been great to watch.”
Romero made a career-high five saves against Atlanta United 2, only letting up one goal in the first half as Steel FC drew 1-1 at home. The performance showed just how far the Cherry Hill, N.J. native has come since his first start in 2017.
“We’re really happy with Tomás’ development over the last few years,” noted Burke. “He has grown a bit in his abilities and remains a good shot stopper, which was on display in our last game against Atlanta.”
Romero holds quite a few goalkeeping records for Steel FC. In his first start against the Rochester Rhinos in 2017, he became the youngest goalkeeper to start a match. Romero is also the youngest goalkeeper to earn a win and a shutout, recording both in the match against Ottawa on August 15, 2017 (16 years, seven months and 17 days old), and the youngest to earn a draw coming against Pittsburgh earlier that year on July 15, 2017 (16 years, six months and 26 days old). A year later and wiser, Burke turned to Romero for a crucial point on the road at Indy Eleven that all but secured a postseason berth. Through it all, that first start has provided the motivation and hunger to develop.
“It’s been about three years since the first game that I played for Steel FC against Rochester and I’ve continued to train hard during that time,” stated Romero when asked about his time with Steel FC. “I’ve had great opportunities to train with professional goalkeepers, the first team and everyone else and I just see how they play. It’s all really boiled down to experience for me and knowing what to do in certain situations. That’s probably the biggest thing that the coaching staff wanted to see from me, learning how to play like a professional goalkeeper. I still have a lot more to learn, but I’m happy to see the progress from then to now. I also think my maturity level during training and games has developed, ‘learning to play like a professional’. It’s more than just being good at soccer; it’s having the mentality to always want to get better.”
Bethlehem Steel FC next hosts Ottawa Fury FC at Talen Energy Stadium on Sunday, May 19 at 6:00 p.m. ET. Tickets are available here with the match set to be broadcast on ESPN+.
