Into the Strada-Sphere: Middletown South Impressive in 2025 Debut

MIDDLETOWN — Luke Strada went from star sophomore to No. 1 fan as a junior — a choice that took him away from his Middletown South boys soccer team for the 2024 season, when the team brushed up against monster success, but ultimately fell short.

After spending a year in Major League Soccer’s MLS Next program, Strada returned to high school soccer with his Middletown South teammates. While the Eagles missed out on Strada’s talent in 2024, they are getting the best possible version of him in 2025.

Strada made his impact felt immediately on Thursday, scoring a goal and assisting two others in a 4-1 win for Middletown South — No. 7 in the preseason Shore Sports Insider Top 10 — over Holmdel.

“I’m mainly just excited to be back with the people I grew up with and have been training with for most of my life,” Strada said. “I’m with them a lot off the field, so now I get to play with them again on the field and share one last year, so it’s pretty special.”

Junior Connor Saul scored two goals in the first half, Strada buried an upper-90 strike in the 50th minute, and senior defender Brett Denery headed in a corner kick by Strada to cap the scoring two minutes later. With senior Matteo Gallina also assisting two of the goals, the victory showcased Middletown South’s balanced, talented roster, with Strada’s speed, work-rate and danger in the attacking third at the center of it all.

“Having the players that we already had, bringing Luke back, bringing some guys up that are sophomores or juniors now,” Middletown South coach Dan Riverso said. “We have a pretty deep squad.”

Middletown South returns nine starters from a 2024 team that finished 10-8-3 and reached the Shore Conference Tournament round of 16 and NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III semifinals. The Eagles were close to much more, though. They were seconds from knocking off Christian Brothers Academy for a second straight season and finishing first in their SCT group, but conceded the tying goal in the last minute of regulation and the winner early in overtime.

In the knockout stage of the SCT, Middletown South carried a 2-0 lead on Lacey into the late stages of the second half. The Eagles let it slip away when the Lions scored the equalizer with just seconds remaining in regulation. Lacey went on to advance to the SCT quarterfinals on penalty kicks.

“It was definitely hard watching those games,” Strada said. “I didn’t get to see all of them, but I went to watch when my schedule allowed it, and I can definitely remember watching the end of that CBA game and thinking that I could have helped. They got really close in a few of those games, and it could have changed the way the season ended. It was unfortunate, but I think it’s made everybody motivated.”

In the NJSIAA Tournament, Long Branch shocked No. 1 seed Colts Neck in the Central Group III quarterfinals, giving Middletown South a home game in the sectional semifinals. The Eagles and Long Branch went into the final 10 minutes scoreless, but Long Branch erupted for three goals in the final nine minutes to earn a ticket to the sectional championship while ending Middletown South’s season.

“Those are three games we should have had, and that would have made a difference in how far we went,” Riverso said. “Those were three games we would have liked back. I know Long Branch was better than us, but it’s zero-zero with nine minutes left, and if we get to overtime, anything can happen.

“Every game is zero-zero. We can’t be going into this worrying about who the other team is or what their résumé says. We’re just trying to play one game at a time, all 80 minutes.”

Neither Riverso nor the players have placed an explicit focus on finishing games stronger this season, but there is an implicit expectation for the team to stay on the attack for entire games — a task made easier with the reintroduction of Strada.

“His desire to go hunt the ball down if we don’t have it is what stands out,” Riverso said. “The guys see that, and they all do it. He is not too talkative on the field, but his play, everybody gets inspired by it. Everybody saw that he was coming back to play, and they were like, ‘Yes. This is what we were talking about since we were in eighth grade.'”

Things did not start easy for Middletown South in Thursday’s opener. Playing against a steady, strong wind in the first half, Middletown South gave Holmdel an early free kick, and Hornets senior midfielder Luke Farrugia lifted a 35-yard shot up into the air. The wind carried it over the reach of goalkeeper Carson Perry and into the goal in the third minute of play.

Holmdel takes a 1-0 lead on No. 7 Middletown South on a wind-aided free kick by Luke Farrugia in the 3rd minute. pic.twitter.com/j8gUjnBCH5

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) September 4, 2025

“They came to compete,” Riverso said of Holmdel. “They shocked us in the beginning. It is tough to play into the wind, but in the second half, we settled into our own game and went from there. It was really hard to play in the first half.”

From there, however, Middletown South asserted itself. Less than two minutes after falling behind, the Eagles drew even when Gallina’s free kick slipped past Holmdel’s line and to the feet of Saul, who poked it in for the equalizer in the fifth minute.

Connor Saul strikes again, this time off a Luke Strada cross in the 35th minute to give Middletown South a 2-1 lead on Holmdel. pic.twitter.com/H7Qb5Wl1VS

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) September 4, 2025

Both teams settled in for a scoreless 30 minutes before Middletown South grabbed the lead for good. Strada beat a defender to the end line and crossed the ball into the six-yard box, where Saul completed his run with a firm finish from point-blank range for a 2-1 Middletown South lead in the 35th minute.

In the second half, Middletown South gained the wind at its collective back and put the game away. In the 50th minute, Gallina blasted a long diagonal pass in the air for Strada, who ran it down on the left side of the field. Strada took a hard dribble to his right and unleashed a bullet inside the near left post for a 3-1 lead.

Luke Strada with a near-post missile to extend the Middletown South lead to 3-1 in the 50th minute. pic.twitter.com/6r79SOyvCX

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) September 4, 2025

“We were very close to getting to where we wanted to go last year, so I just see my role as someone who is going to work hard and help us score more goals,” Strada said. “We probably just needed to be a little bit better, attacking-wise, and I think I can bring that mentality, not just with my scoring but helping everyone get better opportunities to attack and score.”

Two minutes later, Strada served a corner kick to the middle of the scrum inside the box, where Denery elevated for a header that found the back of the net.

With a three-goal lead, Middletown South did not have to worry about giving up a late lead and walked off with an impressive first win that showcased both its returning and emerging talent. Gallina was a facilitator throughout 2024, while Denery continued his role as a shutdown outside back who gets involved in the attack.

“When he gets involved in the attack, it’s special,” Strada said of Denery. “He makes our attack much more dangerous. When I was a sophomore, we showed we could do that with some of our defenders, and I think now, all of our defenders know how to do that, and I think we’re confident that we can make the most of those opportunities.”

Saul, meanwhile, scored the first two goals of his varsity career after getting a dose of time as a sophomore. On top of adding Strada back to the operation, Saul’s nose for the goal on Thursday was an exciting development for Middletown South.

“He’s our ‘Star Boy’ — that’s what we call him,” Strada said of Saul. “Working with him is different. Having someone up there that I can work with and connect with has been helpful for me. I think it’s helped him as well.”

Watching his team fall short in those 2024 losses to CBA, Lacey and Long Branch left Strada unsettled that he was not out on the field to help his team. His last year of training, however, has made him a vastly improved player who is ready to take Middletown South to another level.

“It was always my goal to come back (to high school soccer),” Strada said. “Now, I’m a lot better than I was two years ago. I think the team is a lot better after what they went through last year, so we’re really excited to see what we can do.”