Return to Glory: Jackson Boys Soccer Wins First Title in 36 Years

WOOLWICH TWP. — Jackson Township Boys Soccer coach Steve Bado graduated from Jackson High School five months before his beloved Jaguars went on to win the NJSIAA Group IV championship in the fall of 1990. In the fall of 2005, he took over as head boys soccer coach of his alma mater with the goal of returning Jackson to its glory years.

During Bado’s time as head coach, Jackson High School has split into two high schools, only to merge back into one in the fall of 2025. Through it all, Bado’s Jaguars have been in the mix for championships most years and within reach of a trophy during their best seasons, but have not been able to break through in a postseason tournament.

On Friday night at Kingsway High School, in the school’s second year of existence as Jackson Township High School, the Jaguars captured the title that has eluded them for three-and-a-half decades, including Bado’s 22-year tenure.

For the second straight game of its NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV Tournament run, fifth-seeded Jackson thrived on the pressure of penalty kicks and clinched the championship on a save by junior goalkeeper Brandon Idyk that sealed a 4-2 shootout win and 2-1 overall victory against second-seeded Kingsway. The championship is the first sectional title for Jackson Township High School in any sport and is the first championship for Jackson Boys Soccer since Jackson Memorial’s 1990 state-title run.

 

The Legend of Brandon Idyk grows. The junior saves 2 more penalty kicks in a shootout and Jackson Memorial beats Kingsway 2-1 to win its first sectional title since 1990. 4-2 on penalty kicks. https://t.co/xmkdVEHilF

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) November 14, 2026

“It’s incredibly emotional,” Bado said. “This goes out to all the guys that we should have done it with, and we didn’t. Finally closing the door means a lot. When I took over the program, I was so into it. The guys couldn’t really understand why I was so into it, and it was just what I was accustomed to. Jackson Soccer was always a top team around. Now, we’re back.”

Two nights after knocking off Eastern — the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group VI section — on penalty kicks, Jackson once again needed 100 minutes plus a round of kicks to finish off its sectional title run. Idyk earned the headlines on Wednesday by saving three of Eastern’s four penalty attempts and on Friday, he denied two out of the four shots he faced from Kingsway’s shooters.

“He did it last game, he did it this game — just incredible,” Bado said of Idyk. “It would have been nice to win it in regulation, but watching that makes it even sweeter.”

“It feels even better today, because now, we’re holding up the trophy at the end of it,” Idyk said.

Idyk made a diving save on the first Kingsway attempt of the shootout and nearly saved the Dragons’ third shot, which slipped underneath the armpit of his outstretched left arm. On the fourth attempt, Idyk did not lose sight of his target, parrying the ball away from the goal and rising to his feet in triumph as his teammates erupted in celebration.

“He has kept us in the game many times,” junior defender Kyle Diertl said. “He had great saves all over, even in overtime. He is the biggest reason why we won the game. I have played with him my whole life, and that’s just what he does. That’s what’s so great about him.”

“The guys just came up to me and said, ‘You did this yesterday; you can do it again,” Idyk said. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

Prior to Idyk’s championship-clinching save, Jackson made all four of its penalty kicks — all to the right-side netting. Diertl, whose electrifying goal in the final minute of the first half tied the game, opened the round of kicks with a conversion, which Idyk followed by saving Kingsway’s first attempt. From there, senior Serhii Hryhoriak, freshman Mason Monday and sophomore Tyler Felicelli each converted their kicks to keep the pressure on the home team.

Monday’s made kick during the shootout was especially significant because the freshman had a chance to clinch the championship with a penalty kick in the waning minutes of regulation. Monday drew a trip inside the 18-yard box and stepped to the penalty spot with 2:20 remaining in regulation, but Kingsway senior goalkeeper Talan Vannelli came through with a diving save to his right to keep Kingsway’s championship hopes alive for the moment.

 

The Legend of Brandon Idyk grows. The junior saves 2 more penalty kicks in a shootout and Jackson Memorial beats Kingsway 2-1 to win its first sectional title since 1990. 4-2 on penalty kicks. https://t.co/xmkdVEHilF

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) November 14, 2026

“We have been in that situation in penalty kicks a few times,” Bado said. “They were good against Middletown South (in the Shore Conference Tournament consolation round). They were good against Eastern. Monday has been my guy all year. I wasn’t going to differ from him shooting it even though he missed in regulation. I had faith in him, and he went in there, and he nailed it.”

Kingsway also failed to capitalize on a penalty kick during regulation, with junior Gavin Wiggins firing wide of the left post in the 42nd minute after a handball in the box awarded the Dragons the opportunity.

For the first time during the tournament, Jackson played from behind. Senior Jude Palazzo buried a left-footed strike from the top of the 18-yard box in the 17th minute off a long throw-in from junior Liam Matkowsky and a touch pass from sophomore Leo Bassuolo, giving Kingsway the first goal of the game.

The Dragons nearly made it to halftime with the lead, but Diertl delivered a momentum shift with a big swing of his right leg. The junior sweeper collected an attempted clearance close to midfield, attacked the open space in front of him and unleashed a 40-yard missile that eluded the reach of Vannelli and dipped under the crossbar for the game-winning goal with 29 seconds left in the first half.

“We were down one, so we had to get something going,” Diertl said. “I saw an opening, I took a shot, and luckily it went in. I was driving, I saw an open lane, and I thought I had to take the shot and see what happens. That gave us some momentum going into the half and, to be honest, if we didn’t get that, things probably would have gone downhill.”

“Our note during the week was, ‘Just do your job, and you never know who is going to make the big play,'” Bado said. “We have had different guys make plays all season. Serhii and Monday have the numbers, but it’s pretty well-rounded with guys finding the back of the net. Diertl is the best defender in Ocean County, in my opinion. He is just clutch. He does it all, and hitting that dinger was great. It put us right back in the game.”

 

With 30 seconds left in the half, Kyle Diertl drills one from about 40 yards out to tie the game for Jackson. 1-1 at half at Kingsway. https://t.co/8UX44jOpl6

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) November 13, 2026

Diertl has played multiple positions throughout the year as Jackson dealt with injuries to players on its back line. With the returns of juniors Lucas Rathyen and Ty Shramovich, Diertl has settled back in at his ideal spot and came through on both ends of the field in Jackson’s biggest win in three-and-a-half decades.

“He has been a team leader,” Bado said of Diertl. “He is calm, cool, and collected. I am very into it and can get pretty intense, and he has kept me calm at times. He says ‘Coach, I got it,’ and it gives me that security of having that leader on the field.”

“We don’t let in a lot of goals, which is why we’re in every game,” Diertl said. “When we have our defense at full strength, everyone does their part.”

The goal in the 17th minute was the only shot on goal faced by starting Jackson senior goalkeeper Logan Schlenk, who has split games with Idyk all season. In the second half and overtime, however, Kingsway tested Idyk and forced him to make five saves to keep the score tied at 1-1. His best save prior to the shootout came in the 55th minute, when he made a diving stop of a shot from the middle of the box by junior Rocco Vignola.

 

Jackson’s Brandon Idyk with a diving save to prevent a Kingsway goal in the 55th. https://t.co/Jy3RHvd2l8

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) November 13, 2026

Vannelli was also up the task in the second half and overtime for Kingsway. The senior keeper saved nine shots in the 100 minutes of play, most of which came after halftime. After getting beat by Diertl’s shot in the final minute of regulation, Monday unleashed a similar shot in the 46th minute from 35 yards out that Vannelli parried over the crossbar. Vannelli also saved a pair of on-target direct kicks — one by junior Lucas Rathyen in the 67th minute and another by Hryhoriak midway through the first overtime.

After Vannelli’s save in the first period of extra time, Kingsway dominated the final six minutes of the session and nearly won the game when Vito Calandro got a clean header from inside the six-yard box, but slammed it over the crossbar of the exposed goal.

Neither team produced a near goal during the second overtime period, and the game advanced to penalty kicks for two teams familiar with the process. While Jackson decided each of its last two games on penalties, Friday marked Kingsway’s third straight game to end in a shootout after the Dragons eliminated both No. 7 Toms River North and No. 11 Rancocas Valley on penalties in consecutive rounds.

Jackson rode home with a championship trophy one year after its maiden voyage as Jackson Township High School following the merger of Jackson Memorial and Jackson Liberty. Bado was the head coach when Jackson High School split in 2007-08 and adjusted to the challenges of losing players to another high school. Last year, he had to manage expectations as players from two programs combined into one. Jackson finished the 2025 season 10-11-1.

“It’s very fitting,” Bado said. “When we joined back together, I explained to them that I never wanted to split up. I missed those guys. I was glad that they were back with me. Jackson is Jackson, so coming back together is how it was when I played, how it was when I took over the program, and we’re back to that again. It’s a great feeling.”

After watching his second-half goalkeeper make the championship-winning save, Bado ran onto the field and celebrated with his coaches, soaking in the first championship for Jackson in 36 years and his first tournament championship since the Jaguars won the 1989 Shore Conference Tournament championship during his senior season.

While most coaches either attempt to evade being doused with a cooler full of water or never see it coming to begin with, Bado spotted his players approaching him and invited them to douse him on a night in which temperatures dipped into the low 40’s.

The rush of cold water on a cold night might as well have been a rush of memories from the last 22 years as a head coach. Bado took the Jaguars to sectional finals in 2012 and 2018, only to fall short both times. Jackson also reached five Shore Conference Tournament semifinal rounds, but never broke through into the championship game.

Compared to the pain of losing those games so close to a championship celebration, the pain of ice water on a mid-November night was therapeutic.

“I still have lunch with Rob Johnson from time to time,” Bado said, referring to the former Jackson Soccer and Shore Conference great. “We talk about the good old days. We knew it was something special, and coming back after playing for years, I wanted to keep it special.”