EGELSTON TOWNSHIP – As hard as it is to imagine now, Arturo Romero only managed to score two goals as a freshman, just two short years ago.

Opponents weren’t exactly shaking at the thought of facing him in the future.

Most didn’t realize at the time that Romero had a ton of talent, hidden beneath a temporary cloud of inexperience and shaky confidence.

Since then his confidence has gone through the roof, and so have the results.

Oakridge junior Arturo Romero, who has exploded for 22 goals in the first eight games this season.

Romero, a junior, scored four goals on Monday night in a 6-3 victory over Orchard View. For most high school players, one game like that would equal a memorable season. But Romero has had lots of games like that.

His four goals brought his season total to an amazing 22 in eight games, which is just four shy of the Oakridge single-season record of 26, held by Travis Lucas.

Oakridge is not quite to the halfway point of its season, which means if he stays healthy Romero could shatter that record by quite a bit.

Romero and Orchard View’s Xander Randall battle for the ball.

He scored three goals against West Michigan Aviation Academy and Muskegon Catholic, and four goals against Muskegon and Orchard View. He’s averaging more than three goals per game, which is pretty unheard of at any level of soccer.

“I think I’m playing with a lot more confidence,” said Romero, who led the Eagles with 20 goals last year as a sophomore. “When I was a freshman, I always panicked. But playing in club soccer, and having teammate here who have my back, has really helped me.”

Romero is a level-headed kid who doesn’t like to talk a lot about himself, but he admits his recent scoring binge has been pretty exciting.

“It feels really good,” he said. “My hard work is coming into play. But I need to remain level-headed, and I know it’s not all about scoring.”

Romero weaves between defenders during the game on Monday.

Monday’s victory over Orchard View improved the Eagles’ record to 6-1-1 on the season. A big reason for their success has been a potent offensive attack spearheaded by Romero, who throws terror into opposing goalies every time he touches the ball.

On Monday Oakridge peppered OV with 20 shots on goal, and many of them came from Romero.

“It’s been fun,” Romero said about winning. “All the guys are close and we’re doing well. We’re working as a team and we’re all talking about how we can get everyone involved.”

Romero’s new confidence has also helped him develop as a team leader, according to Oakridge coach Greg Fleener. Hard work has led to lots of goals, and his teammates have noticed.

“It makes my job of motivating the team a lot easier,” the coach said. “He’s doing the right things every day on the field in practice.”

Romero runs and watches as Orchard View goalie Brandon Todd makes a diving save on one of his shots.

Part of Romero’s success comes from his ability to shoot equally well with either foot, even though his right foot is more dominant, according to Fleener.

“He’s as ambidextrous as they come,” Fleener said. “We’ve had great goal scorers with a dominant foot and an okay non-dominant foot. But he took a corner kick the other day left-footed, and it looked like his dominant foot. Most high school kids are not elite with both feet.”

Unfortunately there’s a chance that the Eagles’ strong season could be the high point for the program for a while, because numbers are a cause for concern at Oakridge.

The Eagles have 20 players on the roster, but many of them are seniors. There are not enough players to have a junior varsity team this year, and only one player on varsity is a freshman.

Romero tries to get the ball past outstretched Orchard View goalie Brandon Todd.

“That’s always a challenge,” Fleener said about coaching at a school where football is more of a draw for athletes than soccer. “This year, for whatever reason, is worse than normal.

“It’s the first year I haven’t had a junior varsity team in eight years. It will be tough next year and the following year. But we’re pretty competitive as a program. We’re not close to dominant, but we’re pretty healthy and competitive.”

Romero just wants to keep winning this year, and he doesn’t want his insane scoring pace to steal attention from team accomplishments.

“I think it’s really cool and I feel proud, but I don’t want to overstate it,” he said. “Everyone knows about it. If someone asks me about it, I’ll say “Yeah, it’s me”, but I don’t want to gloat.”