2025 SSI Boys Soccer Coach of the Year: Dan Riverso, Middletown South

One year ago, the Middletown South boys soccer team ended its season lamenting its multiple failures to protect one-goal leads in some of its biggest games, as well as conceding deciding goals late in several more.

A year later, no team in the Shore Conference and few around the state were better at shutting opponents down in the second half than Middletown South was and that trait, among others, led the Eagles to its greatest season in program history.

In his fifth season at the helm, Riverso spent an offseason and preseason repairing his late-game defense and his team’s psyche and the results were nothing short of magnificent. Riverso’s club authored a 17-win season in 2025 that included the program’s first ever Shore Conference Tournament championship, first ever NJSIAA sectional championship and first ever appearance in an NJSIAA Group championship game.

Riverso’s part in pushing his Eagles past their 2024 late-game demons and toward unprecedented success lands him the 2025 Shore Sports Insider Boys Soccer Coach of the Year award.

Since Middletown South won three games in Riverso’s first season on the job in 2021, the Eagles have increased their win total each year, growing that number to seven in year two, nine in year three and 10 in year four. The 10-8-3 season marked progress for Riverso’s team in 2024, but the many returning players this season remembered the gut-wrenching losses more than any of the 10 victories.

Among Middletown South’s eight losses were losses to Christian Brothers Academy, Lacey and Long Branch – all of which carried postseason ramifications and were decided in the final eight minutes of regulation or later. The Eagles also dropped a 1-0 game vs. Colts Neck in which the Cougars scored the winning goal on a penalty kick late in the first half.

Middletown South brought back 10 players in 2025 with starting experience in at least one previous season, including senior Luke Strada. After a strong sophomore season in 2024, Strada elected to forego his junior season of high school soccer to compete in Major League Soccer’s MLS Next program.

In 2024, Strada might have been the missing ingredient but in 2025, he was the final piece of a championship puzzle. Riverso had his returning group focused and motivated, then dropped Strada into the mix after he broke the news that he would be returning to the high school pitch for his senior year.

Prior to running through the Shore Conference Tournament, Middletown South did have some wrinkles to iron out. After an impressive 3-0 start that included a 4-1 drubbing of Holmdel – the No. 9 team in the final Shore Sports Insider Top 10 – on opening day, Middletown South suffered a 4-2 loss at Manasquan and later dropped to 4-3 with a 1-0 loss to Wall.

From that point on, Middletown South would prove to be unbeatable up until the final day of the season, but even in the immediate aftermath of the loss to Wall, there were some close calls. The Eagles had to bounce back from a 1-0 deficit to beat Neptune and after a scoreless draw with St. John Vianney, they survived a 1-0 battle with Red Bank Regional.

At 6-3-1, Middletown South was on the verge of the best stretch in the history of its program. The Eagles wrapped up first place in their Shore Conference Tournament group with a convincing 4-0 win over Howell, then won their rivalry game vs. Middletown North, 2-0, to close out their regular season.

Shutout wins over both Lacey and Marlboro in the first two rounds of the Shore Conference Tournament sent Middletown South back to the SCT semifinals for the first time since 2012 while also extending the Eagles’ shutout streak to six games.

Waiting for Middletown South in the SCT semifinals was CBA – a team Middletown South knocked off in 2023 before the heartbreaking defeat in 2024. Senior center back Ryan Kapler rose to the occasion by contributing to two first-half corner-kick goals – one on a finish and another on an assist – and leading a defensive effort that held off a second-half surge by the Colts and sent Middletown South to the championship game with a 2-1 win over the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

Playing in its first SCT championship game since 2003, Middletown South would have to go through defending champion Colts Neck to win its first ever conference title. Colts Neck had already beaten Middletown South, 1-0, in September of 2025 and also owned a 1-0 win in 2024, when the two teams boasted relatively similar rosters. The Cougars were also coming off an exhilarating semifinal win over Freehold Township that ended with a stunning individual effort by Colts Neck junior standout Sean Moore.

Middletown South’s defense, led by Kapler, senior outside back Brett Denery, junior outside back Brody Illingworth and junior center back Charlie Welsh kept Moore off the scoreboard for 100 minutes, but could not find the winning goal on the other end. That forced the championship to be decided on penalty kicks and senior Carson Perry stepped into the spotlight. The second-year starter in goal saved two shots during the shootout, including one by Moore, and Strada buried the game-winner to set off a raucous celebration of the Eagles’ first ever Shore Conference championship.

Middletown South turned its attention to the NJSIAA Tournament and it was more of the same from the Eagles defense and top attackers. Strada unleashed a hat trick in a 7-1 win over Pemberton in round one, then scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Long Branch in the Central Jersey Group III quarterfinals. That win was also a symbolic one for Middletown South, which had now defeated all four of the teams that broke their hearts in 2024: Lacey, CBA, Colts Neck and Long Branch. It was Long Branch that ended Middletown South’s 2024 season by scoring three goals in the final eight minutes to advance to the Central Group III championship game by a 3-0 score.

Junior Connor Saul finished a cross from Strada for the lone goal of a 1-0 semifinal win over Northern Burlington, which set up a third showdown with Colts Neck – this time on the road against the No. 1 seed in the section with a sectional title on the line. Middletown South had never won a sectional championship, while Colts Neck would be seeking its first sectional crown since 2000.

After a scoreless first half that looked a lot like the first two meetings between the teams, Middletown South finally broke through against Colts Neck’s vaunted defense and did not let up. Saul scored off a corner kick in the seventh minute of the second half, then added an insurance goal just past the midway point of the half. Saul then finished off a hat trick and Grant Pipercic capped the rout with a goal in the final minutes and Middletown South had run away with a 4-0 win over Colts Neck to seal the Eagles’ first ever NJSIAA Tournament.

With Welsh hobbled by an ankle injury he suffered in the sectional final, Riverso had to shake up his lineup for the Group III semifinal at Moorestown. Senior Jack Cohen shifted from midfield to center back to shore up the defense, while Pipercic, sophomore Luke Strukiewicz, senior Joey Fielding and sophomore Liam DiStefano were thrust into greater roles. Even amid the lineup change, Middletown South played a dominant first half and took a 1-0 lead into the second half on another goal by Saul – his fifth of the last three games.

Moorestown stunned the Eagles by scoring in the 74th minute to tie the game and Middletown South missed a chance to end the game in the final minute when Saul was taken down on a breakaway just outside the penalty box and fired the ensuing free kick high. On the positive side for Middletown South, the foul resulted in a red card that forced Moorestown to play with 10 players during overtime.

Within three minutes, Illingworth earned a free kick, Cohen served the ball into the box, and both Strada and Saul got to the ball at the same time, with Strada getting credit for the finish as Middletown South stormed into its first state final ever with a thrilling overtime finish.

The Eagles were no match for a complete Ramapo squad that pulled away for a 5-1 win in the Group III championship game, but the loss did not change the fact that the 2025 Middletown South squad ended the season as the most accomplished team in program history.

Riverso had already proven he could steadily improve his teams during his first four seasons in charge, but his fifth year marked a leap forward for a program that now stands among the elite teams in the Shore Conference going forward.