Even after graduating four All-Shore seniors, Howell remained the top public-school team in the Shore Conference thanks to a talented group of juniors and its steady head coach.
After losing more than 20 seniors to graduation in 2020, coach Jeff Soares and Rumson-Fair Haven reloaded and won the program's first ever NJSIAA sectional championship.
Only one team in the Shore Conference during 2020 - and in the history of the Wall High School boys soccer program - has finished with a perfect record and it was this year's Crimson Knights squad.
Led by coach Joe Mahon, Toms River North improbably captured its first sectional title in 10 years and did so as a No. 16 seed in South Jersey Group IV.