Soccer player in white with a neon pink shoe dribbles along the sideline while a defender in dark blue pursues him near the edge of the field.

Thinking Big: Shore Boys Soccer Conquers SCT Hex in Win Over Howell

Matt Manley|September 23, 2026|Last Updated September 23, 2026

The World Cup format was introduced to the Shore Conference Tournament in 2023 and no team has been burned by the luck of the draw more than Shore Regional.

The Blue Devils finished just short of advancing out of the group stage and into the knockout round in each of the past three seasons and have not participated in the Shore Conference Tournament since 2021 despite posting a cumulative record of 44-23-1 over three straight winning seasons from 2023 to 2025, including an overall NJSIAA Group I championship in 2023.

Amid its shortfalls in the SCT, Shore has made the most of its circumstances even beyond winning a state title three years ago: the Blue Devils have advanced to three straight Shore Conference Coaches Cup finals, routinely proving they are SCT-worthy by reaching the final stage of the consolation tournament.

While performing in the consolation tournament has been a point of pride for coach Christian Pontier and his team over the past several seasons, he and his experience-laded 2026 team had no interest in pursuing a Coaches Cup championship this fall. After three years failing to get out of the group stage, they want to be part of the Shore Conference soccer’s big dance.

“We haven’t been there,” senior Silvio Pessoa said of the Shore Conference Tournament. “We have been going to the finals of the Coaches cup the last three years, so we’ve had to step it up this year and get in.”

On Tuesday, Shore took its most important step toward finally getting back into the SCT by beating Howell, 3-1, in the third group stage match for the two teams battling for the top spot in Group 8. Howell entered the game with a perfect 7-0 record, ranked No. 10 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10 and, along with Shore, one of the two 2-0 teams in Group 8 through two games.

With Tuesday’s win, Shore now leads the six-team group with nine points, which is three ahead of both Howell and St. John Vianney — both of which Shore has beaten during the group stage. The Blue Devils need just one tie (or win) in its final two group matches against Donovan Catholic and Manchester to officially clinch a spot in the SCT for the first time since 2021. Finishing first in the group would land Shore a top-eight seed and a first-round bye.

“We lost some good seniors from last year that started for us,” senior Michael Ilvento said. “But we have a really good group of boys with some young kids stepping up. We’re all getting better day by day.”

 

Prior to Tuesday, Howell had not only won each of its first seven matches; the Rebels had not trailed all season. Shore changed that in the 14th minute, when it earned its second corner kick of the match. After Pessoa’s initial corner kick was easily saved by Howell goalkeeper Brady Murphy, Pessoa placed his second corner closed to the edge of the six-yard box than the mouth of the goal. Senior defender Shane Sullivan elevated for a clean header that shot by Murphy and into the goal for a 1-0 Shore lead.

In the 32nd minute, Ilvento joined the scoring with a clean shot inside the right post after taking a pass from fellow senior Bryan Silveira and Shore carried its 2-0 lead into halftime.

“We were controlling the midfield with an extra player,” Ilvento said. “That was a big difference for us.”

 

Four minutes prior to scoring, Ilvento capped a pretty sequence of passes with a blast off the bottom of the crossbar that barely landed in play before Brady covered it up. Ilvento was the team’s leading scorer last year with 10 goals, stepping into a goal-scoring role while Pessoa missed the bulk of his junior year due to injury.

Shore maintained its two-goal lead until Pessoa buried a strike to the lower left of the goal in the 64th minute after taking a pass from Silveira and beating a defender. Howell broke up the shutout bid when junior defender Milli Martinez scored directly off a corner kick in the 75th minute and nearly pulled within one when top scorer Tom Beurskens shook free on the near post for a corner kick service that he just missed putting in.

In closing out the victory, Shore both tangibly improved its position for the Shore Conference Tournament, as well as in the NJSIAA Tournament thanks to the power-point haul that comes with beating team that already has seven wins in the third week of September. Tuesday was also further evidence that this year’s mix for Shore has standout qualities, not the least of which is the combination of Pessoa and Ilvento. After playing as a defender to start his varsity career, Ilvento moved up to center attacking midfield only when Pessoa was out due to injury.

“I really wanted to get back last year so I could play with (Ilvento) on the attack, but I got hurt again,” Pessoa said. “He was playing great up there and I was really looking forward to getting back this year and getting to join forces up there.”

With Pessoa back healthy and playing striker, Shore is now getting a dose of what the two can do together. After losing their season-opener to Rumson-Fair Haven, 1-0, Shore has gone 4-0-1 with the lone tie coming against No. 3 Freehold Township.

“We’ve learned not to get down,” Ilvento said. “Keep the energy high at all times, play together, stay as a unit and stay as a team.”

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