2026 Boys Soccer Shore Conference Tournament First-Round Preview, Predictions
2026 Shore Conference Tournament Opening Round
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026
(21) Freehold Boro at (12) Colts Neck, 2 p.m.
To get an idea about Freehold Boro’s chances to pull off a first-round upset at Colts Neck, refer to the Colonials’ group-stage game at Marlboro. Although Marlboro prevailed, 2-0, Freehold Boro made it to halftime, 0-0, and did not let one of the Shore’s top teams bury them under an avalanche of scoring. Speaking of a scoring avalanche, the Colonials put up six goals in their final group-play game vs. St. Rose and it could take another big scoring effort to overtake Colts Neck.
The Cougars have generally been dependable in games against unranked teams, albeit with some close calls. Freehold Boro is capable of pushing Colts Neck and could put up some goals against Colts Neck’s young back line, but Sean Moore and Pedro Navroski will have a chance to run wild on the attack. Expect some goals and some drama, but expect the senior scorers on Colts Neck to make their presence felt.
The Pick: Colts Neck, 4-2
(18) Lacey at (15) Wall, 3 p.m.
Lacey enters the SCT coming off its best win of the season – a 1-0 win at Cherry Hill East, which followed a loss to Toms River East in a 1-0 battle. All that to say the Lions are playing well heading toward their trip to Wall and with an attack dominated by juniors and sophomores, it should come as little surprise that the Lions are rounding into form as the season progresses.
Wall, meanwhile, is still in search of its first win vs. a team with a winning record and on top of collecting seven wins against teams with a losing record (and one vs. a .500 team), the Crimson Knights also have three losses to teams with a losing record. Playing on its new, spacious turf field could play to Wall’s advantage, but Lacey has some weapons for which the Crimson Knights will have to account. Both teams have talented sophomore scorring threats – Tristan DeRosa for Lacey and Oliver Rhoades for Wall – but Lacey’s got a little more depth in its weaponry, plus a game-changing senior goalkeeper in Dylan Graham.
The Pick: Lacey, 2-0
(24) Red Bank at (9) Christian Brothers Academy, 4 p.m.
The first of three rematches in the SCT first round, this one is the only rematch of a group-stage game, which CBA won, 4-0. Red Bank will try to retool its approach to playing CBA, which is going through its roughest stretch of the season at the moment. Last week, the Colts went 1-2 with road losses to Manasquan and Bergen Catholic and a narrow, 1-0, win at Holmdel. That was last week, however, and now, CBA will embark on reclaiming the Shore Conference Tournament championship after falling short in each of the past two seasons following its three-peat from 2021 to 2023.
Red Bank has developed into a dangerous squad with some young guns to complement senior leader Brian Garcia. Freshman Tyler Salvo is in the midst of a breakthrough rookie season and the progression of Red Bank’s underclassmen should give the Bucs a better feel for playing CBA the second time around. This time, though, the game will be at CBA, which likely swings the advantage heavily in CBA’s favor.
The Pick: CBA, 5-1
(23) Point Pleasant Boro at (10) Toms River East, 4 p.m.
Another rematch and another underdog trying to close a significant scoring delta during the regular season. Toms River East handled Point Boro, 4-0, in the Class A South showdown between the teams, with all four goals coming in the second half. Since then, Point Boro rallied to qualify for the SCT by beating defending champion Middletown South and will try to show how far it has come as a team since that mid-September loss in Point Pleasant.
Toms River East has fought through injuries to post a 12-1 record through 13 games and the Raiders have the makings of a team that can reach the SCT final, which they have not done since 2006. There is a lot of soccer for Toms River East to play before the Raiders are competing with a spot in the final on the line, but they should be able to take the first step on Wednesday.
The Pick: Toms River East, 3-0
(22) Ranney at (11) Freehold Township, 4 p.m.
Like the other two rematches of the first round, the first match between Ranney and Freehold Township was a blowout in favor of Wednesday’s host. Freehold Township blasted Ranney during the Class A Central regular season, but the Patriots would be wise not to underestimate the Panthers just because the first meeting was so one-sided. Ranney has a young team that has endured some real growing pains, but they have also put a scare into some teams: they tied Rumson-Fair Haven and have one-goal losses to Shore, Manasquan and Point Beach.
Freehold Township has also experienced its share of slip-ups, but injuries have been an integral part of the Patriots’ story through the regular season. Over the last week, they are getting healthier thanks to the returns of striker Jaden Doaman from a prolonged absence and senior defender Lucas Torres from a shorter stint. With a healthier unit, the Patriots are hoping to make a run to a championship as a No. 11 seed, which would match the highest-number seed to ever win the SCT. That team? Freehold Township in 2014.
The Pick: Freehold Township, 4-1
(19) Southern at (14) St. John Vianney, 5 p.m.
Southern put itself into a tricky spot by losing to Holmdel at the start of the final full week before the Shore Conference Tournament, which meant the Rams had to beat a two-loss Matawan squad just to qualify. As you can probably tell by their inclusion in this post, Southern pulled out the victory with a 1-0 win over the Huskies and will now take on a St. John Vianney team that is rounding into form after opening the season 0-5 while playing with 10 new starters compared to a year ago.
Southern will have to come up with an answer for SJV junior striker Ethan Eddleston, who is one goal away from 20 on the season. On the other side, junior Juan Victoria leads Southern with five goals and no other player on the team has scored more than two. The Rams will try to keep the game low-scoring while SJV wouldn’t mind putting getting into a goalfest, but the Lancers will have to do so with care: Southern’s biggest win of the season is a 4-3 win over Manasquan.
The Pick: SJV, 3-2 in overtime
(17) Howell at (16) Long Branch, 5:30 p.m.
An early-season rough patch saw Long Branch drop matches to Barnegat and Red Bank Catholic and those results are what ultimately got them saddled with a first-round match vs. a 13-2 Howell side. Howell, meanwhile, lost its only two games of the season in group play, which stuck the Rebels at the top of the third-place group in the seeding. The result is a match in which the road team profiles as the heavy favorite, with Long Branch in search of its first win and Howell entering the game with recent wins over Ocean and Freehold Township.
Although Long Branch has not defeated a team with a winning record, the Green Wave own a win over Toms River South (6-6-1) and have one-goal losses to Manasquan, Shore and Ocean, with the 1-0 loss at Manasquan ending in overtime. It is not the most consistent team, but Long Branch is capable of keeping it tight with Howell and playing at home could be the difference, especially if Howell is feeling some pressure from having struggled in the group stage.
The Pick: Howell, 2-1
(20) Toms River South at (13) Rumson-Fair Haven, 6:30 p.m.
The final kickoff of the first round is between two teams that are used to navigating close games and facing tough competition. Coming out of a Class A Central division that had all six of its teams qualify for the SCT, Rumson has played eight games that have either been decided by a goal or ended in a tie, while Toms River South had seven such games while navigating a Class A South schedule.
Rumson is another team rounding into something resembling full strength after some injuries woes made for a rocky road to the SCT and the Bulldogs have still managed to more than hang with their difficult schedule. They will face an Indians side that just measured itself against No. 1 Manalapan and will be ready for the challenge of cracking a solid Rumson defense while trying to deal with junior Avery Belincampi and seniors Kyle Winig and Cristian Santos.
The Pick: Rumson, 1-0
