#image_title

Red Bank Boys Soccer Wins First Division Title in 52 Years

Matt Manley|October 10, 2024|Last Updated October 14, 2024

LITTLE SILVER — Dave Santos has been one of the Shore Conference’s most accomplished boys soccer coaches over the better part of two decades and his accomplishments have been wide-ranging.

He fielded competitive teams during his first head-coaching job at Red Bank Catholic, put Marlboro boys soccer on the statewide map and his most recent a run came as the top assistant coach for a Christian Brothers Academy program that won two overall state championships and two Shore Conference Tournament titles during his six-year stint.

After helping his alma mater raise an already high bar, Santos was ready for another head-coaching challenge, so he picked one of the toughest: a Red Bank Regional program that went 2-13 in 2022 and had not posted a winning season since 2014.

Year one in 2023 came with its share of growing pains, as has year two. This week, however, those pains have turned into huge gains for the Bucs, who all of a sudden find themselves playing for championships and contending with some of the Shore’s top programs.

Two days after stunning Howell — the No. 8 team in the current Shore Sports Insider Top 10 and preseason No. 1 — in an important game for both teams, Red Bank held off Ranney, 2-1, Wednesday to finish off the Shore Conference Class B Central championship. The division title is the first for Red Bank’s boys soccer program since 1972.

“It’s been a process,” said Santos, who has been to three Shore Conference Tournament finals as a head coach with Marlboro and won one in 2009. “We have had our growing pains. There were times during the year where we doubted we’d ever be able to get to where we are right now because we were so slow in our understanding of what I feel is needed to be successful: work-rate, style of play, communication.

“The last ten days or so, something clicked. We’re starting to understand, we’re starting to play a little better, we’re starting to work harder for 80 minutes. It’s made a difference and it has changed the season for us.”

With only four starters back from a 6-11 team in 2023, Red Bank did not instantly meet success in 2024 but the Bucs successfully built a bridge to a division championship with their work early in the season thanks, in large part, to the performance of those four starters. Senior forward Trey Cummings leads the team in scoring and added to his season-total by scoring both goals in Wednesday’s win over Ranney.

“It’s been a very different playing style than what we were used to,” Cummings said of the changes that Santos has brought to the program. “There is a lot more running, a lot more hard work, moving that extra five steps out wide. That has made all the difference for us. It’s made us a lot better.”

Junior Alex Salvo and senior Jason Monge have run the midfield and senior teammate Max Ansell is a captain on defense. All three were on display Wednesday, with Monge assisting both of Cummings” goals with long through-balls and Salvo carving up Ranney’s midfield and back line during Red Bank’s possession-heavy performance. Ansell and the defense kept Ranney off the board for the first 59 minutes before a goal by Panthers senior Saeed Torres tightened the score, 2-1, heading into the final 20 minutes.

“We wanted to make sure we kept fighting until the end,” Cummings said. “We didn’t want to drop our game down and give up a goal, which we did against Central and a couple other times. We just kept our enthusiasm, kept fighting hard and tried to get another goal.”

Cummings scored two nearly-identical goals Wednesday off long through-balls from Monge, finishing both sequences with shots to the far post from the right side of the 18-yard box. The two goals pulled Cummings even with Salvo for the team-lead in goals to go with his six assists on the year — second only to Monge (11) on the Bucs roster.

“Jason and Alex were there last year and they have become a good combination in the midfield together,” Santos said. “Brian (Garcia) is new this year. He is only a sophomore, but he has filled the role really well for us. With those three, we do try to keep the ball a little bit. It takes a little while to get on the same page and I do think they are starting to play like they are on the same page.”

Wednesday’s performance continued a big week for both Cummings and Red Bank, which pulled off an eye-opening, 3-1, win at Howell on Monday that kept the Bucs’ hopes of a Shore Conference Tournament berth alive. Cummings and Salvo both scored goals in the run of play and senior outside back Gavin McTighe converted a penalty kick to secure the win.

McTighe (three goals, three assists), junior Carlos Segura-Trapp (four goals) and senior Alex Flores (three goals, four assists) have been three other dependable sources of offense for Red Bank to go with the trio of Cummings, Salvo and Monge.

Red Bank is one of four teams in the Shore Conference Tournament Group C with a chance to qualify for three spots in the SCT knockout round and those three spots will be determined in two games on Thursday and Friday. Red Bank will play at Shore Regional on Friday in the second of those two games, but could clinch a spot in the SCT for the first time in 10 years before even taking the field in West Long Branch. If Central defeats Howell, Red Bank will be guaranteed a spot in the SCT no matter the outcome Friday.

If Howell defeats Central, there is still good news for Red Bank: the Bucs could finish first in the group with a win on Friday and earn a bye through the first round of the tournament. The downside to a Howell win on Thursday at Central is Red Bank would be eliminated with a loss on Friday at Shore. A draw with Shore in any scenario would also be enough to qualify the Bucs for the SCT.

“I told them going into the week they were probably going to have to win on Monday and Friday to get into the Shore Conference Tournament and it looks like I’ll be right,” Santos said. “I have tried to keep them up to date about what we are playing for because I do think that has served as motivation for them to keep working, keep buying into what we’re doing.”

Red Bank’s ascension to division champion this season was added by divisional realignment, which moved the Bucs from a Class A Central field that included perennial state-tournament contenders Holmdel, Rumson-Fair Haven and Shore and moved them into a Class B Central division that is home to the smallest schools by enrollment in Monmouth County: Asbury Park, Keyport, Henry Hudson and Ranney. Red Bank ran the table against those four opponents, plus Monmouth Regional and Red Bank Catholic to win the division going away.

The easier schedule produced six wins, but Red Bank has proven itself vs. tough competition as well. After giving up 11 goals in back-to-back losses to Raritan and Rumson-Fair Haven, the Bucs battled No. 7 Manasquan in a 2-1 loss. Santos’s squad also dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 9 Ocean and nearly pulled an upset in SCT group play prior to the Howell game, when the Bucs lost to Central in overtime, 2-1.

“We had a couple of games thrown in there that would test us because we knew we would need it for when we got to the postseason — if we got to the postseason,” Santos said. “So I would say we’re pretty battle-tested. We hung with Manasquan, we got a good result against Howell, we like where we are and obviously Friday is pretty important. We could be in the Coaches Cup or we could win our group, so it’s a pretty big difference.”

The results this week have validated the rebuilding project Santos and Red Bank have undertaken and regardless of Friday’s outcome at Shore, the Bucs will have a division championship and a return to the NJSIAA Tournament for the first time in three years to show for their efforts.

“Hopefully, we can get a result on Friday and keep it going,” Santos said. “Winning the division is nice, but it’s not the end goal. We have bigger fish to fry, so we’ll see what happens Friday.”

Related Articles