NJSIAA Sectional Final Preview: Long Branch at Steinert
NJSIAA Boys Soccer Sectional Final
Friday, Nov. 15, 2024
Central Jersey Group III
No. 9 Long Branch (11-10) at No. 3 Steinert (16-4-3), 2 p.m.
Long Branch at a Glance
Head Coach: Bill Rohr
Last Sectional Title: 1997
Last Sectional Final Appearance: 2021
Road to the Final: Defeated No. 8 Hopewell Valley, 2-0; No. 1 Colts Neck, 3-2; No. 4 Middletown South, 3-0
Players to Watch
Johan Gomez, Sr., Forward (8 goals, 5 assists)
Thomas Silva, Jr., Forward (12 goals, 4 assists)
Chris de Oliveira Santos, Jr., Midfield (7 goals, 6 assists)
Alejandro Lopez-Flores, Sr., Midfield2 goals, 8 assists)
Brandon Mendoza, Jr., Midfield (3 goals, 3 assists)
Evan Santiago, Sr., Defense (5 goals, 2 assists)
Jordan Vieira, So., Defense (1 goal, 4 assists)
Marvin Oyuela, Jr., Defense (3 goals, 2 assists)
Carlos Gerardo Rodas, Jr., Goalkeeper
Long Branch senior Evan Santiago. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspimages.com)
Steinert at a Glance
Head Coach: Anthony Tessein
Last Sectional Title: 1988
Last Sectional Final Appearance: 2023
Road to the Final: Defeated No. 14 Lakewood, 5-2; No. 6 Red Bank, 1-0; No. 7 Burlington Twp., 1-0
Players to Watch
Chris Vega-Ramirez, So., Forward (7 goals)
Tyler Tafrow, Sr., Midfield/Forward (7 goals, 6 assists)
Chris DiMarco, Jr., Midfield (2 goals, 9 assists)
Matt Tafrow, Sr., Midfield (4 goals, 1 assist)
Derek Monahan, So., Midfield (2 goals, 3 assists)
Brayden Quinn, Jr., Midfield (3 goals, 5 assists)
Ryan Checkowski, Jr., Defense (4 goals, 1 assist)
Elliot Morris, Sr., Defense (2 goals, 4 assists)
Jake Reilly, Sr., Defense (1 goal)
Dennis Chaykovskyy, Sr., Goalkeeper
Long Branch junior Christopher De Oliveira Santos. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspimages.com)
Two teams searching for their first NJSIAA sectional title of the new millennium will square off in the Central Jersey Group III championship in Hamilton on Friday and both teams find themselves in unexpected positions as kickoff approaches. Steinert had high hopes of reaching the sectional final for a second straight year, but the Spartans had to figure they would again be playing the role of underdog in the championship game. Last year, Steinert lost at Robbinsville on penalty kicks after giving the defending Group III champion all it could handle for 100 minutes. This year, Colts Neck was the top seed and as the last remaining undefeated public school team in New Jersey and the Shore Conference Tournament champion, the Cougars looked like the team Steinert would have to conquer in the final round of the sectional tournament.
Instead, Steinert is hosting the Central Group III championship gave as the favorite thanks to the postseason brilliance of its actual opponent on Friday. Long Branch dropped to 2-10 on Oct. 11 with a loss to Southern and has not lost since. In the last month, Long Branch is 9-0, with seven of those wins coming in tournament games. The Green Wave won the Shore Conference Coaches Cup in dominant fashion and has now won three NJSIAA Tournament games by an aggregate score of 8-2. During its nine-game winning streak, Long Branch has outscored its opponents a staggering 33-4 and two of those goals allowed came in the win over Colts Neck.
Long Branch junior Thomas Silva holds off Middletown South’s Ryan Kapler. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspimages.com)
About that win over Colts Neck: the Cougars had not lost to a Shore Conference opponent and finished their regular season by tying defending Group IV champion Princeton, 4-4. The three most loaded divisions in the Shore Conference this season were Class A North, A Central and A South and Colts Neck went a combined 11-0-1 against teams in those divisions before running into Long Branch – the last place team in the A North standings this season.
Long Branch trailed Colts Neck, 2-0, at halftime in the sectional quarterfinal, which makes the upset even more remarkable. The Green Wave erupted for three second-half goals to stun the Cougars, then did the same in a span of 3:22 late in the second half of a 3-0 win over Middletown South in the sectional semifinals on Tuesday.
The late-season surge by the Green Wave is a product of inexperienced players rounding into form while the top players on the roster have raised their games another level. Senior center back Evan Santiago has scored three goals in three state tournament games pushing up from the back, while senior Johan Gomez and junior Thomas Silva continue to be top scoring threats on the attack, with Gomez scoring two goals within a minute of one another to put Tuesday’s game at Middletown South on ice.
Long Branch senior Alejandro Lopez-Flores. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspimages.com)
Steinert’s march to the final has not been as convincing as Long Branch’s. The Spartans opened the tournament with a major offensive showing in a 5-2 win over Lakewood, but had to squeak by both Red Bank and Burlington Township by 1-0 margins. That is all well and good by Steinert, a defensive outfit that thrives on applying pressure throughout the formation and pouncing on the scoring opportunities that said pressure creates.
That is not to say the Spartans do not have their share of scoring threats. Chris Vega-Ramirez is a talented sophomore striker who plays on Guatemala’s U-17 National Team and he is complemented by senior brothers Tyler and Matt Tafrow, as well as junior Chris DiMarco. The core of Steinert is its defense, led by Jake Morris, Ryan Checkowski and Elliot Morris and that group will have to keep up with a talented Long Branch attack that is clicking over the last month.
Not since the 1990’s has Long Branch won an NJSIAA sectional title and for Steinert, it has been even longer. The Spartans were a powerhouse in the 1980’s, with the last sectional title coming in 1988, when they won the overall Group III championship. Among Steinert’s star players during that era was Ed Leibe, who would later coach Toms River South to a Group IV championship in 2009 and three straight sectional titles in Group III from 2015 to 2017.
Steinert has been the more consistent team throughout the season and Mercer County’s success in the state tournament to this point suggests the Spartans will be the more battle-tested team. Throw in a game on Steinert’s home grass pitch and Long Branch will be working against some intangible forces.
On the flip side, few teams in the state can claim to be hotter than the Green Wave are right now. Other teams have had better overall seasons, but Long Branch scrapped against a ruthless schedule early in the season for such an inexperienced team and has come out the other side as a serious championship contender. Colts Neck is, by far, the best team Long Branch has defeated during this current run, but the Green Wave have not just beaten those other teams. They have dominated them.
Prediction: Long Branch, 2-1
