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The Magnolia High School girls soccer team finished an amazing run through the Texas state playoffs with a disappointing, but hard fought loss in the state semifinals April 18, in Georgetown.

The Bulldogs lost to top-ranked Denton Guyer 4-2, ending their season with a 19-6-2 record.

Magnolia fell behind late in the first half, giving up three goals within a span of six minutes, before Allison Abendschein headed a goal in after Zoe Bauerschmidt launched a corner kick her way.

They were down 4-1 with about three minutes to play in the contest, before senior Valerie Turner kicked a bullet, from about 20 yards away, past the Guyer goalie, for the final 4-2 score.

Some of the players and Magnolia head coach April Cleveland talked with the Tribune before traveling to the state tournament, after taking home the regional title.

"This experience has been awesome," Cleveland said. "Just being around the girls and the way they know how to have fun, but can turn it on when they have to. It's been an amazing experience."

"We've been an underdog for awhile now, but we like that," said senior Bauerschmidt. "We don't put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We just play for each other."

With a team loaded with 14 seniors, Cleveland expected a good showing this year.

"Did we expect (the final four)? No," Cleveland said. "But one of our goals was to make it to regionals and once we did that we reset them and expected to get to state."

Magnolia reached the regionals and then won the region three title. They fell behind several times during their playoff run, but always bounced back in the second half. They defeated Huntsville (3-0), Lumberton (3-1), Port Neches-Groves (1-0), Waco University (2-1), Kingwood Park in overtime (2-1) and Stratford (2-1).

Against Stratford, the Bulldogs fell behind 1-0 at the end of the first half; before senior Abendschein scored two second half goals to help bring the region three trophy back to Magnolia High School.

"No one expected us to get here," Abendschein said.

Bauerschmidt, Abden-schein and Turner have played together since they were in fifth grade.

"Since we were little babies," Bauerschmidt said.

"Knowing it's going to be our last games together makes us want to play hard," Abendschein said.

'We've never made it past the second round before and we wanted to make history," Turner said.

They did exactly that.

Firefighters were able to safe the outside of a home gutted by fire in Tomball last week. The home, located at the intersection of Carrell and Peach streets, was ravaged by a fire that started in the garage.

"We were able to stop it as it got into the kitchen," said Tomball Fire Marshal Doug Sanguedolce. "The living room was completely destroyed."

Fire officials said that up to four people were inside the home, as well as two dogs, but all were able to get out safely.

Sanguedolce believes that about 80 percent of the home was damaged and that many of the bedrooms received some heat and smoke damage. Firefighters from Tomball, Spring, Klein and Magnolia spent about four hours at the scene.

Sanguedolce said heavy wind gusts played havoc with firefighters, as they scrambled to put the fire out.

"The wind just blew the fire right into the living room from the garage," he said.

He said that initial investigations point to an electrical fire.

"We are probably looking at some type of electrical short at this point," he said.

Sanguedolce said that he believes at this point that the short might have been caused by the garage door opener, which he said was at least 10-15 years old.

The residents of the home had insurance and fire officials will assist them in getting help if they need it.

"We referred them to several local resources," Sanguedolce said.

A New Jersey man was arrested and charged with kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault, after Tomball police say he grabbed a woman from her place of work, took her back to his motel room and raped her, March 21.

Jesse Dains, 54, of Newton, N.J., was arrested at the Economy Inn & Suites, on Tomball Parkway, after the victim escaped his room and called police.

Police said that the victim worked at a local bar, where Dains was a customer. They said after the bar was empty, Dains grabbed the woman and forced her to drive him to his motel. Once in the room Dains allegedly beat and sexually assaulted the woman.

Police said that the woman was able to escape, after Daines passed out in the room. She ran to the front desk of the hotel, where the clerk then called 911.

"Upon arrival responding officers located a female victim who outwardly displayed signs of physical and emotional trauma and abuse," a Tomball Police Department press release stated.

The victim told police that Dains was still inside the room, and officers arrested him without incident. He was transported to the Tomball Police Department and questioned. He was later charged with the two felony counts.

Detectives said that Dains visits Tomball on business several times a year and that it appears he frequents that bar when in town.

Bond was set at $30,000 per charge and Dains was transferred to the Harris County Jail. He is set for arraignment in Harris County District Court 262 for April 26.

The city of Tomball is now in the process of tackling what they consider to have been a long standing nuisance within the town – out of control and unregulated signs.

The Tomball City Council passed a new sign ordinance last December that city workers can now enforce. It addresses everything from bandit signs to inflatable signs and provides, what they say, is a uniform system within the city limits.

"It's not a content driven ordinance, with the exception of obscenity," said Tomball City Planner Rebeca Guerra. "This is a sign ordinance that city council asked us to write and we want everyone to know that we are enforcing what they want."

Guerra said that city staffers are in the midst of a campaign to educate business owners about the ordinance. They won't be out handing out fines left and right and say they want to work with business owners, in order to help them get into compliance.

"We are always going to engage them first and let them know about the changes, before we attempt any other means," said Tomball Community Development Director Craig Meyers.

The staff has sent out a flyer to business owners, highlighting the major points of the new ordinance, while also holding a community meeting and enlisting the help of the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce.

"The purpose of all of this is outreach," Guerra said. "We want to give them a fair opportunity to fix any inconsistencies."

The new ordinance now prohibits inflatable signs, human or living signs, freestanding temporary signs, attention-getting devices, bandit signs, portable signs and obscene signs. It also will not allow new billboards to be placed within the city limits and if a billboard suffers more than 50 percent damage, it must be removed.

City workers are now working the major corridors, removing signs in the right-of-way, as well as educating business owners that are not in compliance.

"We are not a city that likes to issue violations," Guerra added. "We are trying to talk to people."

She gave an example that there are several businesses in town that only have banner signs, which aren't allowed to be permanent. She said part of the education effort is to let those businesses know that the Tomball Economic Development Corporation (TEDC) has grants available.

"Most folks don't know it, but TEDC can do a matching grant of up to $10,000 for sign improvement," she said.

While the enforcement of the ordinance is just in its infant stages, Guerra said there have already been some successes.

"We have had a great deal of luck in removing many inflatable and human signs," she said. "If people know that we aren't out there just to fine them, they are usually pretty receptive to what we are trying to do. We are never going to take action first, without giving them a chance to correct it."

For information about the sign ordinance, call city hall at 281-351-5484, or visit www.tomballtx.gov. For details about TEDC grants visit www.tomballtxedc.org.

City of Magnolia Economic Development Coordinator Deborah Rose Miller (left) and Magnolia City Administrator Paul Mendes (right) presented the Magnolia "City Comprehensive Plan" for the next 20 years, during the Magnolia Rotary Club's weekly luncheon March 26. The pair talked about the long term plans for managing growth in Magnolia. The Magnolia Rotary Club meets every Tuesday, at noon, at the Celeste Graves Education Support Center.