By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
MEDFORD — The celebration after the Shawnee High boys soccer team got past upstart Long Branch, 1-0, in the Group 3 state semifinals was fun, but relatively tame. That’s because from as far back as August, the Renegades fully expected to be playing for a state championship on the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Shawnee returned eight starters from a team that lost in the sectional finals the past two years, and with that kind of experience — as well as a few players returning from the club soccer scene to compete in high school soccer once again — the Renegades knew they were going to be good.
There would be no Cinderella story this year for Long Branch, a team that started the season with a 2-10 record before getting things right and ripping off 10 straight wins to get to Tuesday afternoon’s semifinal.
The Green Wave made the Renegades work hard for it, though, not giving up a goal until the 66th minute. They packed their defense in tight and goalie Carlos Gerardo Rodas made some impressive saves to keep Shawnee off the board the entire first half and much of the second.
Shawnee (20-2-1, 4-1 Olympic American) kept peppering Rodas with shots, but even when they were unlucky the Renegades didn’t give in to the frustration, but rather kept mounting attacks, trying to figure out a way through the Long Branch defense.
“We knew it was going to come. We knew this was going to be a hard game, we knew they were going to set in (on defense). We just had to stay patient and stay composed, and wait for our chance to come. We’ve been in a lot of games like this throughout the season, so we’ve had practice with it. Even in a big game like this, we knew how to stay calm and wait for our chance to come,” said Jacob Santamaria, who tallied the game’s only score. “(Coach Ryan) Franks is always on us about our fitness, and we do all these sprints in the preseason for times like this, when we have to get up and down the field, that we’re ready for it. I feel like winning the ball back in the midfield over and over again just gets us going. We always talk about that, just working for one another.”
“It’s been a point of emphasis for us all season, you can’t let the enormity of whatever moment you’re in — and we’ve been playing in a lot of big soccer games with the Coaches Cup, the sectional playoffs and now this game here — you have to play in the present,” coach Franks said. “That’s been a point of emphasis for us. I didn’t even think about (going to overtime). Quite honestly, it was a problem for us earlier in the year when we were letting our frustrations get the better of us. Obviously, tactics and athleticism and skill win, but I think teamwork is a big part of it. One of our big points of emphasis is picking each other up when we make a mistake. Don’t be the guy who is complaining about things. We all have emotions, but when we know our teammates are behind us, it helps us manage them a little bit. It’s not about what we’re going (as individuals), it’s about the group, and these guys have done a phenomenal job of putting frustrations behind them and just be there for each other.”
Early in the second half, Shawnee midfielder Danny Williams rang a shot off the crossbar. Connor Winters collected the rebound, but Rodas made an acrobatic kick save on his attempt. About seven minutes later, another Shawnee shot sailed just high. With about 20 minutes remaining, Williams drilled a shot from distance that curled just outside the left post.
“We knew one was coming, it was bound to happen,” Winters said. “It really didn’t matter how we were going to get one in the net, but we knew one was coming. We were calm. We had it under control the whole game. We knew we had one coming and we were going to win this game.”
The winning tally finally came with a little more than 13 minutes remaining, as Winters collected a loose ball on the left side, took a touch and sent a perfect cross to a wide-open Santamaria, who calmly tapped the ball in for a 1-0 lead.
“I just heard Jacob talking in my ear, and that’s way easier than shooting (from where I was), so I decided to pass it,” Winters explained. “The ball just ended up on my foot and I saw (Jacob) out of the corner of my eye. The keeper came out and I slipped it past him.”
“I saw the ball on the foot of Connor and I saw nobody was on my, so I was praying, screaming for the ball, and, thankfully, he found me. I stayed composed and tucked it home,” Santamaria said.
Franks said he knew it was going to be a challenge to score against a team that had been playing as well as anybody in the state defensively in the last month or so. The last time Long Branch (12-11, 0-6 Shore Conference A North) allowed more than one goal was on Oct. 11 in a 2-1 loss to Southern Regional in the Shore Conference Tournament group stage.
“They weren’t a familiar opponent, but I know they’ve been really good defensively. In this stretch of games where they won 10 games they only allowed four goals. We knew they were going to be good defensively, but we weren’t exactly sure what we were going to see,” Franks said. “I felt like were trying to force things (early on). They were sitting back far and we were trying to make every pass the last pass instead of just moving them, moving the ball and letting it come to us. The phrase I’ve been repeating for years now — and I’m sure the players make fun of me for it — is ‘quick, simple decisions.’ I’m like a maniac screaming that sometimes, but I thought we did a better job of that (in the second half), not trying to be the hero, but just play the ball that makes the most sense.”
Simplifying their approach in the second half now has the Renegades on the doorstep of a state championship. They’ll take on North Jersey champion Randolph on Sunday at Franklin High in Somerset.
“This means a lot. We’ve been working for this since the preseason,” Winters said. “In the beginning of the summer we were grinding it out and we knew — this was on our white board from the beginning of the season, and now we’re here. It feels good, but we knew it was going to happen. This is what we came here to do.”
Added Santamaria. “it’s one day at a time. We’re going to work hard in practice this week, and hopefully we’ll get the result we’re looking for on Sunday.”
“We thought we could be here on Day One, but just because you think it doesn’t mean it happens. It takes a lot of hard work,” Franks said. “There were a lot of alumni who were heartbroken when we lost for the second straight year in the sectional championship game. It’s been a story of us coming so close, but we were bringing back eight starters from last year. We also have a few guys back from academy soccer, and when you put all that together, I knew we’d be talented. Talent helps, but the character of the team and the culture of the program are important, and it’s a credit to these guys, how much they have bought in and come to work every single day.”
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
