2026 Boys Soccer NJSIAA Tournament Preview: The Shore in Group 3

In no group of the NJSIAA Boys Soccer Tournament is the Shore Conference better represented than Group III. It is the only group with three sections that contain at least one Shore Conference team and in the Central Jersey section of Group III, half the teams in the field are from the Shore Conference.

It has been eight years since Ocean Township brought home the Shore’s last Group III title but in the meantime, the Shore has had its share of contenders and close calls. Middletown South reached the Group III final last year, Long Branch was in the Group III semifinal two years ago and Colts Neck has been a No. 1 seed in Central Jersey Group III in each of the past two seasons.

Colts Neck is among the Shore’s best teams in the Group III field this season, but there is another team that stands out as the one on the cusp of ending a long sectional championship drought.

 

North Jersey, Section 2 Group III

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 7 Matawan
No. 1 Seed: Summit
Defending Champion: No. 3 Cranford

Favorite: Summit. Since losing its second game of the season to Elizabeth on Sept. 8, Summit is on a 15-game winning streak heading into Saturday’s rematch with the Minutemen in the Union County Tournament championship game. That streak includes two wins over Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Hunterdon Central, Westfield and No. 3 Cranford. The Hilltoppers also opened the season with a win over No. 4 Rahway, so navigating the bracket is well within their capability and avenging their 2025 championship-game loss to Cranford is a potential outcome.

Dark Horse: No. 12 North Hunterdon. With a record just shy of .500 and a strong schedule, North Hunterdon has the makings of a tough out as the No. 12 seed heading to play No. 5 Nutley in round one. No. Millburn will also be a dangerous double-digit seed going to Matawan on Wednesday and, potentially, No. 2 Randolph for the quarterfinals and No. 13 Chatham could overcome Rahway, Nutley and North Hunterdon to reach the semifinals. No. 14 Cliffside Park enters the tournament with a 12-5-1 record and four of its five losses are by one goal, so keep the Red Raiders in mind then they travel to face defending champion Cranford in the opening round.

Bracket Breakdown: On Wednesday, Matawan will play its first state tournament home game since 2018 and just its second home state playoff game in the last 11 years. Despite the lack of favorable seeding over the years, Matawan has a history of tournament success on the road and hasn’t lost a home playoff game since 2014. Last year’s Matawan squad – comprised mostly of players from this year’s team – lost a 1-0 battle at Nutley as a No. 13 seed. The Huskies’ schedule has been slightly easier this season as a Class B Central team, but Matawan still has plenty of challenges from its schedule, including wins over St. John Vianney and Holmdel and one-goal losses to Southern, Jackson and Colts Neck.

Prediction: Summit over Randolph. The section is littered with capable teams with double-digit seeds, as well as some dangerous mid-tier seeds, but the top seeds are indeed the favorites, with Summit looking to finish the job after coming up a win short last year.

Round-by-Round Picks

Opening Round
(1) Summit over (16) Orange
(8) Colonia over (9) Carteret
(12) North Hunterdon over (5) Nutley
(4) Rahway over (13) Chatham
(3) Cranford over (14) Cliffside Park
(6) North Plainfield over (11) Ferris
(7) Matawan over (10) Millburn
(2) Randolph over (15) Payne Tech

Quarterfinals
(1) Summit over (8) Colonia
(12) North Hunterdon over (4) Rahway
(3) Cranford over (6) North Plainfield
(2) Randolph over (7) Matawan

Semifinals
(1) Summit over (12) North Hunterdon
(2) Randolph over (3) Cranford

Championship
(1) Summit over (2) Randolph

 

 

Central Jersey Group III

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 5 Colts Neck, No. 9 Red Bank, No. 10 Freehold Boro, No. 11 Middletown South, No. 12 Middletown North, No. 13 Long Branch, No. 15 Lakewood, No. 16 Brick Memorial
No. 1 Seed: Northern Burlington
Defending Champion: Middletown South

Favorite: No. 2 Robbinsville. The Ravens established a dynasty in Central Jersey Group II, which has been every bit as competitive – perhaps more so – than Central Group III. A four-year championship run actually began with an overall Group III championship in 2022, followed by three straight CJ II championships that preceded losses either in the state semifinals or state final. Now back in Group III, Robbinsville enters the tournament coming off a loss to Allentown in the Colonial Valley Conference semifinal. Since an early 6-0 loss to West Orange, the Ravens have answered the wake-up call and looked like a team ready to make a run at a fifth straight sectional championship.

Dark Horse: Middletown South. The defending champions in this section have had an uneven year despite returning the leading goal-scorer and one of the postseason heroes from a group that not only reached the Group III title game, but also won the program’s first ever Shore Conference Tournament championship. That leading scorer, Connor Saul, missed time due to injury, but has since returned and the Eagles head into the first round at No. 6 Lawrence coming off a 3-1 win over Marlboro that suggests Middletown South is rounding into form at the perfect moment.

If there is a double-digit seed to make a surprise run to the second week of the tournament, it’s all but guaranteed to be by a team from the Shore. There are eight teams from the Shore Conference in the field and seven of them are the road team in round one on Wednesday, with No. 14 Nottingham the lone exception. The long shots among the group figure to be the last two seeds in the field – Lakewood and Brick Memorial – and Freehold Boro heading to play a tough No. 7 Moorestown side. Red Bank has a shot to knock off No. 8 Burlington Township before meeting top-seeded Northern Burlington and Colts Neck has had just enough close calls this season to think a battle-tested Middletown North could pull off a major upset.

If there is a dangerous double-digit seed beyond defending champion Middletown South, it would have to be the champion from the year prior. Long Branch has had trouble finishing off wins this season, but the Green Wave have enough skill on the field to take control of a game against a good team and hope to cash in one more opportunity than its opponent does. No. 4 Hopewell Valley is a strong side, but not far beyond Long Branch, which means the Green Wave are a live underdog going into round one, with a chance for another showdown with Colts Neck in the quarterfinals.

Bracket Breakdown: In Group IV, the Shore Conference has seven total teams across two sections and none is seeded worse than No. 7. In Central Jersey Group III alone, the Shore has eight teams and only one of them is seeded better than No. 9. The structure of the divisions on the Shore Conference creates talented small-school teams that get beat up by bigger teams, which is what happened to Middletown South, Long Branch and, to some extent, Brick Memorial this season. The result is a wave of modestly seeded teams that could conceivably make noise in November.

The lone exception is Colts Neck, which was the No. 1 seed in each of the last two seasons and will now try to win that elusive first sectional title since 2000 as the No. 5 seed this year. The Cougars have faced most of the Shore’s best teams and even took on Moorestown in a 3-1 loss to prepare for the CJ III field. It should be beneficial to avoid Robbinsville until the final, but Colts Neck does not get many breaks on its side of the bracket with Hopewell Valley, Long Branch and Northern Burlington standing in the way, assuming the Cougars can survive upset-minded Middletown North.

Prediction: Northern Burlington over Robbinsville. Middletown South’s run to the sectional title included a 1-0 win over Northern Burlington that the Greyhounds have been stewing over for the last year and now, they have a red-hot team ready to atone for that heartbreaking result. Northern Burlington and Robbinsville played to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 5, so a rematch has the potential to be a classic. Getting through either Colts Neck or Hopewell will not be easy, nor would a rivalry match vs. Burlington Township in the quarterfinals, but the Greyhounds appear to be ready to make the run.

Round-by-Round Picks

Opening Round
(1) Northern Burlington over (16) Brick Memorial
(8) Burlington Twp. over (9) Red Bank
(5) Colts Neck over (12) Middletown North
(13) Long Branch over (4) Hopewell Valley
(3) Westampton Tech over (14) Nottingham
(11) Middletown South over (6) Lawrence
(7) Moorestown over (10) Freehold Boro
(2) Robbinsville over (15) Lakewood

Quarterfinals
(1) Northern Burlington over (8) Burlington Twp.
(5) Colts Neck over (13) Long Branch
(11) Middletown South over (3) Westampton Tech
(2) Robbinsville over (7) Moorestown

Semifinals
(1) Northern Burlington over (5) Colts Neck
(2) Robbinsville over (11) Middletown South

Championship
(1) Northern Burlington over (2) Robbinsville

 

South Jersey Group III

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 1 Toms River East, No. 9 Toms River South, No. 12 Central
No. 1 Seed: Toms River East
Defending Champion: Moorestown (No. 7 in Central Group III)

Favorite: Toms River East. Since moving from Group IV to Group III in the 2024 season, Toms River East has been to back-to-back sectional semifinals in South Jersey and exited the tournament with a 1-0 loss both times, including on penalty kicks at home vs. Delsea last year. The Raiders are in the midst of their best season in over a decade and have been eyeing this part of the season since the summer. A three-game losing streak heading into Wednesday’s first-round game vs. Cherry Hill West – a dangerous No. 16 seed – is unsettling, but coming off a loss to Manasquan on penalties in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals, the Raiders can be forgiven for falling into a lull during a week of pick-up games.

Dark Horse: No. 11 Delsea. The Crusaders made it all the way to the sectional final as a No. 6 seed last season and this year, they head into the tournament on a four-game winning streak and with six of their eight losses coming by a one-goal margin. The only two teams to beat Delsea by more than one goal (Kingsway, Cherokee) are the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds, respectively, in South Jersey Group IV and the Crusaders also own a win over Cumberland, the No. 2 seed in this section.

Delsea is one of several competent first-round road teams in South Jersey Group III, which includes No. 16 seed Cherry Hill West. The Lions have gone 7-9-1 against a stacked schedule and own a 5-1 win over Cherokee in October. Winning at Toms River East will be a tall order but they will make the No. 1 seed work in the first round, at the very least. No. 14 Deptford is another bracket sleeper as a side that is 8-7-1 overall and 4-3-1 since Sept. 30 with a tie vs. No. 2 Cumberland and all three losses decided by one goal.

Central heads into its first-round match at Shawnee with some momentum after the Golden Eagles hammered Southern Regional, 4-0, on Thursday. Since starting the season 0-7, Central’s young roster has shown marked improvement and is 7-4 since. The draw is not quite ideal – Shawnee has a tradition of state tournament success and have been tough to score upon this season – but the Renegades have gone 1-3-3 since Oct. 7 after starting the season 7-0-2.

Bracket Breakdown: The three Shore Conference teams in South Group III are all on the same side of the bracket and if one of those teams is to reach the sectional final, it is possible beating the two other Shore teams will be required. Toms River East will not have to leave its home field during the tournament, but that does not mean the Raiders got an easy draw. A rivalry game vs. Toms River South could be in store for the sectional quarterfinal and if Toms River South can overcome the loss to injured senior center back Christian Oberti by beating No. 8 Timber Creek in round one, the Indians would be a motivated team heading east on Route 37 on Saturday.

A Shawnee-vs.-Toms River East semifinal would be the most likely outcome based on the performance and pedrigree of the two teams this season, but the semifinal on the other side of the bracket makes for more guesswork. Cumberland has had a strong season but also owns two losses to Timber Creek and one to Delsea. No. 3 Absegami, meanwhile, started the season with 14 straight wins before going 2-3 over its final five games prior to the tournament. Those losses were to Notre Dame, St. Augustine and Cherry Hill East and all competitive, so while the Braves did feast on a light schedule early, they have shown they can compete when the competition ramps up.

Prediction: Toms River East over Absegami. It has been 41 years since Toms River East won a sectional championship and this year could mark the program’s best opportunity of the last several decades. The Raiders last made it to the sectional final in 2011, when they lost at Cherokee in the South Group IV championship. Getting past Shawnee could prove to be Toms River East’s toughest test in the whole bracket, but then again, the first round and the quarterfinals could both be battles for the No. 1 seed. With a talented crop of juniors and sophomores, this will not be Toms River East’s last chance at a championship, but it might be its best chance.

Round-by-Round Picks

Opening Round
(1) Toms River East over (16) Cherry Hill West
(9) Toms River South over (8) Timber Creek
(5) Shawnee over (12) Central
(4) Clearview over (13) Seneca
(3) Absegami over (14) Deptford
(11) Delsea over (6) Ocean City
(7) Mainland over (10) Hammonton
(2) Cumberland over (15) Medford Tech

Quarterfinals
(1) Toms River East over (9) Toms River South
(5) Shawnee over (4) Clearview
(3) Absegami over (11) Delsea
(2) Cumberland over (7) Mainland

Semifinals
(1) Toms River East over (5) Shawnee
(3) Absegami over (2) Cumberland

Championship
(1) Toms River East over (3) Absegami