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Super Sub: Late Goal Sends CBA Soccer to NJSIAA Sectional Semifinal

Matt Manley|November 7, 2025|Last Updated November 7, 2025

MIDDLETOWN — Christian Brothers Academy soccer coach Tom Mulligan could see that his junior spark plug off the bench was starting to tire toward what would be the end of his short burst of playing time, so when he was within earshot of him, Mulligan gave him some encouragement in the form of a command.

“Keep working hard, because you’re coming out on the next sub (substitution),” Mulligan said.

Within seconds, Shane Landau found the ball at his feet with only green turf and a panicked goalkeeper standing between him and the goal that would send his CBA team past St. Thomas Aquinas — Thursday’s opponent and the No. 7 seed in the NJSIAA South Jersey Non-Public A section — and into the sectional semifinal round.

Landau indeed finished on his lone opportunity and the best opportunity either team had all game, giving CBA the only goal in a 1-0 win over St. Thomas Aquinas that sets the Colts up for a South Jersey Non-Public A home semifinal game Monday vs. third-seeded St. Augustine.

“I know he was gassed, I know he was really tired because he gives an all-out effort,” Mulligan said of Landau in the moments leading up to his goal. “He made that final run and he came off the field after celebrating his goal and I don’t think he could even breathe.”

CBA outshot St. Thomas, 9-3, for the game and narrowly missed goals on multiple occasions prior to the game-winner, but the Trojans were the sharper team possessing the ball in the middle of the field and manufactured their best chance in the 69th minute with a shot from inside the box that glanced the left post. It was St. Thomas’s only shot of the second half but it added a close call to the run of possession that served as a wake-up call for the Colts.

“We kept running, we kept punishing them and there had to be a mistake,” Landau said. “And it came.”

At the end of the 72nd minute, Landau and CBA answered the alarm. Senior defender Trey Higgins broke up St. Thomas’s counter-attack near midfield with a pass forward that set up CBA’s own counter-attack. With the Trojans’ back line pushed up, Landau slipped past the last defender and outraced the defense to the ball sent forward by Higgins.

“Only six-and-a-half minutes left, I saw my chance with the one guy there,” Landau said. “I couldn’t have done it without the boys cheering behind me. I heard everybody yelling and I just had to take a shot.”

Junior goalkeeper Hector Fuentes came off his line, but it was too late, Landau calmly shot the ball past Fuentes and into the left side of the goal with 6:58 remaining on the scoreboard clock.

“He didn’t come out quick enough, so I just had room,” Landau said of Fuentes. “I had one lane and I took it.”

“Shane has not lit up the scoreboard, but he has put in a lot of valuable minutes for us up top,” Mulligan said. “He gives a lot of our other forwards breaks. He gives us about 10 minutes a match and I don’t hesitate to put him up there because his work rate is tremendous: he goes at it, he presses defenses, he is not intimidated, he doesn’t shy away from contact. The ball landed at his feet and he finished it nicely. I’m really not surprised, because all week, as I watched the kids play, he has been finishing a lot more in the training sessions.”

Fuentes kept CBA off the board with a one-hand save on a header by senior Charlie Messano off a Will Dreschler corner kick in the 61st minute. Dreschler also put a free kick on frame in the 65th that a St. Thomas defender headed out of the goal.

During the first half, CBA senior Devon Cale cleared the ball away from CBA’s goal-line in the 33rd minute on a Trojans bid to take the lead. Fuentes also saved an open shot by CBA scoring leader James Brady on a shot near the penalty spot in the fourth minute.

Despite the advantage in quality chances, CBA’s victory was no certainty against a St. Thomas Aquinas team that sported a 9-9-1 record out of a very competitive Greater Middlesex Conference. Prior to Thursday, CBA was 0-1-1 vs. GMC teams, with a 1-0 loss to Monroe and a 3-3 draw vs. Old Bridge.

While St. Thomas’s skill presented CBA problems, the Cale clearance in the first half and the grazed post in the second half were the only close calls against Colts goalkeeper Brady Lepore a CBA defense that was disruptive when absolutely necessary.

“That was a very good team we played today,” Mulligan said. “We were preparing the last week or so defensively and through the midfield with our communication to each other and our defensive responsibilities and our marks. I thought the boys defended all over the field — not just the back four or five — and that was necessary against a really skilled, fast, quality side.”

Thursday marked just the second game CBA has played since its 2-1, Shore Conference Tournament semifinal loss to Middletown South on Oct. 22. The Colts beat Freehold Township, 5-1, on Friday in a regular-season tune-up.

“They (St. Thomas Aquinas) played very well on the ball — great touches, great movement,” Landau said. “The boys really rallied towards that second half putting in the energy. Everybody was giving what they’ve got because any day could be our last day. We had an unfortunate loss last week against Middletown South, but I think that just gave the boys more fire and more drive to come out there and put a result up on the table that puts some respect on CBA.”

“Sometimes, teams can go one way or the other and we haven’t played a competitive match in over two weeks,” Mulligan said. “It’s been a while since the Middletown game. We lost to a good team and that happens in high school soccer. We’re practicing on Saturday and we’re going to play another game on Monday against another quality side and we’re moving on. It’s exciting to be playing when it’s cold out and it’s state tournament time.”

Landau’s goal was his third of the season and his first came in CBA’s season-opening draw vs. La Salle Academy of Rhode Island, with the other coming in a 6-0 win over Manchester. Thursday’s finish extended CBA’s season into the semifinals on Monday, when the Colts will attempt to reach the sectional final round for the 11th time in 12 seasons. Last year’s loss to Notre Dame in the sectional quarterfinals ended a run of 10 straight years with CBA in the sectional final round, including the modified 2020 postseason.

“They have just maintained the same level of intensity all season long,” Mulligan said of his team. “A loss or a victory doesn’t change this group too much, in my opinion. The quality of our sessions has been outstanding and that’s largely in part to our senior leadership. Our senior captains have been outstanding down the stretch.”

 

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