Devil of a wake-up call

Player-driven meeting last week shakes life into Penns Grove soccer team, Red Devils respond with big win over Pitman

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

The Penns Grove boys soccer team just scored one of its biggest wins in Mano Massari’s short tenure as head coach in a 3-1 thriller over Pitman. It may have come on a Homecomiing Tuesday night, but the seeds were actually planted five days earlier.

Roll the tape.

The Red Devils had just dropped a 4-2 loss to Wildwood for a third loss in a row that flew in the face of their high expectations. It was such an uninspired effort, the coach had the players run more than a dozen suicides in front of their waiting parents after the game.

At the end of the session, as the players were catching their breath and collecting their things, Massari reminded them there would be a mandatory meeting the next day in Room 66.

At the appointed hour, the players slowly started to gather and when they all got settled the coaches came in and locked the door. But instead of spending the next however long it was going to take reading the riot act hoping that would get their attention, Massari turned it all over to the players. 

Say whatever you want, he told them, no matter your class or station. Everybody has a say. Clear the air.

The coaches stayed in the room, but remained silent observers. The meeting was all player-driven. Everybody talked – seniors, freshmen, captains, junior varsity. The Red Devils left that room a different team than when they went into it.

“It was a reality check for the team,” Massari said after the win over Pitman. “We sat down in the classroom. I shut the door. I locked the door. And I told them we’re not coming out until we figure this out together.

“I let them talk. I let them handle it. Say what was going wrong, what people need to do better, what’s working, what’s not working. I wanted them to take the reins and hold each other accountable. Watching them handle it like men and figuring it out, it was beautiful to watch.

“We went out to practice after the meeting and we were flabbergasted at how well it went. Usually it’s hard to get these kids to have face-to-face communication, it’s all text and stuff these days, but that’s what you need to do as a team and they did it. Since then we’ve had great practices, intense practices and it translated on the field today.”

Tuesday was the Red Devils’ first game since the meeting and the first real test of whether all they talked about registered. They fell behind in the first 10 minutes on a penalty kick by Jake Bowen-Ashwin, but they weren’t discouraged. In fact, it made them even more determined.

Senior Jayden Murga Santos, who missed the first three games in concussion protocol, tied the match with his second goal in as many games. It remained tied until freshman Juan Ortiz scored the goal of the game with less than 10 minutes left in the half, taking a sliding shot on a charging goalie and burying it in the side panel .

Senior captain Frankie Juarez Reynoso usually sets up the Red Devils goals, but he found the back of the net in the second half for a big insurance goal. And keeper Dwayne Guzman kept the Panthers out of the goal to make it all stand.

“I told them we’re playing for ourselves; everyone’s playing for themselves,” Massari said. “I said an open hand is weaker than a fist and we’ve got to start playing like a fist. Really, just telling them the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back.

“Let me tell you, they took that to heart, they really did. They’ve been working together as a team. Man, it translated on the field today. It was awesome to see them play for each other, play hard for each other, celebrate together. It’s hard watching these guys lose, lose together, they take it to heart. Man, it is euphoric watching them win together. It’s awesome, absolutely awesome.

“Something’s clicking after that meeting we had. I can’t express enough how important that meeting was for this team. That’s the turning point.”

The Red Devils are back at it Thursday at Overbrook, starting a stretch of five straight (and seven of the next eight) road matches.