2025 Shore Sports Insider Girls Soccer Coach of the Year: John Rogers, Manalapan

Shore Sports Insider 2025 Coach of the Year

 

John Rogers, Manalapan

The 2025 Shore Sports Insider Coach of the Year Award race started at the end of the 2024 season after the Manalapan Braves surprised many people by reaching the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional final. The Braves fell short in that game, losing on penalty-kicks, but came into the 2025 season as one of the favorites and had high expectations. With every player returning from the 2024 team, Manalapan came into the 2025 season as the top-ranked team and went wire-to-wire in the Shore Sports Insider Girls Soccer Top 10 Rankings as the number one ranked team.

Manalapan went undefeated throughout the regular season and Shore Conference Tournament, winning 20 straight games including the Class A North division title and their first Shore Conference Tournament championship since 1988. With a target on their back, head coach John Rogers helped keep the players focused on the game in front of them and not down the road. 

“Being ranked number one in the preseason, everyone knew our role would be different this year,” senior defender Constantina Papadakis said. “Unlike last year, we had the target on our backs this time. J-Rod (John Rogers) was constantly telling us that this year we were going to be the ones hunted, and that our spot at number one is never guaranteed. He held just as high expectations as everyone else, and as long as we left the field knowing we tried our best, with no regrets, that is all he could ask for. He never failed to remind us before each game how hurt we felt after Monroe, and to turn those feelings into revenge on the field, and that is exactly what we did.”

Going undefeated in the Shore Conference is no easy task. Going undefeated and playing in Class A North, which might be the hardest division in New Jersey, is an even more difficult accomplishment. Entering the Shore Conference Tournament, Manalapan did not trail for a single minute during the regular season. The closest the Braves came to ending their undefeated regular season came on September 20th against Manasquan. Manalapan forced Manasquan goalkeeper Madeline Petrulla to make 35 saves and did not find the back of the net until the final minutes of double overtime.

When you enter the postseason and have not trailed a single minute, it can raise concerns how the team would respond when finally trailing. Manalapan faced that against Rumson-Fair Haven in the Shore Conference Tournament Semifinal. Trailing early in the first half, the Braves scored two goals in the final 16 minutes for their first comeback victory of the season. 

“Every pregame speech up until the last, he would remind us that our jobs are to stay composed, and play nobody else’s game but our own,” Papadakis said. “People are going to be desperate to beat us, but this time we have enough experience to handle the pressure of these situations. The entire season, we had teams hungry to beat us. He disregarded our rankings online, because what counted to him was how we performed and represented the program. To really earn number one, we had to keep proving it. Each and every game was a new test and a different battle in order to prove that we deserve it.”

After beating Trinity Hall in the Shore Conference Tournament Championship 3-1, Manalapan and Coach Rogers switched their focus to the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional. The Braves ran through the first three rounds without conceding a goal, but they ran into a rival in the championship game: Freehold Township. After beating Freehold Township 4-1 during the regular season, the Patriots ended the Braves season with a 1-0 victory for the Central Jersey Group 4 title.

Watching seniors’ careers come to an end in heartbreaking form and the reactions of the players who have given it all for four years is one of the reasons high school sports is so special. When a special team like Manalapan’s season comes to an end, the players are emotional and that is when you see what coaches mean to a program. That was very clear as Coach Rogers comforted his players after they were upset. 

“J-Rod has made my four years unforgettable,” Papadakis said. “I see him as not only a coach, but a friend. And the 2026 class, being his first full class from beginning to end, was a difficult goodbye. We grew together, joked together, and have been through the toughest of losses and most exciting wins together. As for the upperclassmen, we all agree that J-Rod is more than deserving of the Coach of the Year title. He has shaped the program and everyone in it for the better. J-Rod is a very sentimental person, everything he does has a meaning behind it. J-Rod was always there for us, no matter what. Whether we needed to vent, talk about the season’s ups-and-downs, or help prepare for the upcoming season. He is a coach who will have a lasting impact on the entire 2026 class, including myself.”

As fans you do not see the impact that coaches have on these players behind the scenes. The conversations they have, the encouragement, the consoling, the little things that make good programs successful. 

“The night after the Monroe game, he emailed the entire team to write out our feelings looking back on the season and what we want the next year to look like, helping us be able to vent after the difficult loss,” Papadakis said. “He then printed out those same emails and gave them to us this year. The seniors did something similar this year; we wrote letters to say to the underclassmen about what the program meant to us and how it impacted our high school careers.”

 

Finalist

 

Miguel Arroyo, Howell

Coach Arroyo and Howell achieved something you rarely see these days in high school athletics. A public school reached the Shore Conference semifinal for four straight seasons. Howell played one of the most demanding schedules as a member of Class A North. With all of that and graduating a strong class for the third straight season, Coach Arroyo led the Rebels to 16 wins. 

 

George Moutis, Shore Regional

Shore Regional entered the postseason with a 6-6 record and went on to win 11 out of their final 12 games and brought home two trophies to finish the season. Coach Moutis is no stranger to leading the Blue Devils in big games over the years. First, the Blue Devils allowed only two goals in four games to win the Coaches Cup. Coach Moutis then led Shore to their sixth Group 1 state title and their first since 2021 with a 2-1 win over Verona. 

 

Dave Patterson, Freehold Township

In what was supposed to be a rebuilding season, the young Freehold Township team entered the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional with a 6-10-2 record. Coach Patterson and his staff prepared the Patriots to play their best soccer at the most important time, making it to the Central Jersey Group 4 final and pulling off the biggest upset of the season, defeating top-seeded Manalapan, 1-0. Coach Patterson is one of the most prepared coaches in the state and has his teams competing at a high level year in and year out ready for any opponent. 

 

Patrick Trombetta, Trinity Hall

Coach Trombetta has brought Trinity Hall to a high level since taking over the program. The Monarchs reached the South Jersey Non-Public A final for the first time in the school’s history two years ago and returned again this season. Coach Trombetta also led Trinity Hall to the school’s first ever Shore Conference Tournament final appearance. Before this season the furthest Trinity Hall went in the Shore Conference Tournament was the second round.