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Lustig, Manalapan Boys Soccer Break Through in OT Win at Manasquan

Matt Manley|September 26, 2025|Last Updated October 15, 2025

MANASQUAN – The current Manalapan boys soccer team returned more scoring firepower from 2024 than any other team in the Shore Conference and yet, through its first six games of the 2025 season, the Braves found it difficult to score the deciding goal in crunch time of a close game.

Facing Manasquan – No. 7 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10 – Thursday in a Shore Conference Tournament group stage game likely to determine first place in Group 6, the Braves were just minutes away from settling for another discouraging draw.

Then, it happened: the Braves attack produced the late-game goal that secured the team’s biggest win of the season to date.

Senior Ethan Lustig scored the golden goal Thursday in the 99th minute and No. 4 Manalapan finished off a 3-2, overtime win over Manasquan after letting its one-goal lead slip away in the final minutes of regulation.

“We have had a rough start,” Lustig said. “A lot of things out of our control: injuries, red cards, guys missing games. Today, it finally clicked. It was a sloppy, hard-fought game, but that’s what it takes to win championships.”

Lustig’s game-winner was his second go-ahead goal of the game and he also assisted Manalapan’s first-half equalizer by fellow senior Edoardo Russo.

“These ties have been so annoying,” Russo said of Manalapan’s two draws against Freehold Township and Rumson-Fair Haven. “It feels like we have constantly been going to overtime. We finally finished it today and it feels so good.”

As a junior in 2024, Lustig posted 20 goals and 13 assists to lead Manalapan to a 17-3-2 finish and a No. 3 ranking in the final Shore Sports Insider rankings, which landed him a First Team All-Shore spot at the end of the season. Lustig already had four goals and three assists before Thursday’s game, but Thursday marked the first time this year Lustig’s scoring prowess delivered the Braves a win that was not a certainty late in the second half.

“We have a lot of talent on this team,” Lustig said. “There’s a lot of younger guys – Luke (Ottenheimer), Max (Kazanovich), (Nick) DeSantis – stepping up. We’re going to gel together. It’s still early in the season. I’m not worried about the record right now, but as the season goes on, it’s good that we finally get going and gel together.”

After a 1-1 first half, Manalapan controlled the first 30 minutes of the second half, which included Lustig’s game-tying goal in the 56th minute. Russo played the ball through the teeth of Manasquan’s defense to Lustig, who made a diagonal run to pick up Russo’s pass, touch it around junior goalkeeper Quinn Petrulla and slam it home for a 2-1 Braves lead.

Manasquan hung in the game despite playing without junior defender Rey Weinseimer and slightly limited minutes for senior forward and 2024 All-Shore selection Cruz Farkas. Just past the 70-minute, Manasquan started to push into the Manalapan end and in the final five minutes, the Warriors struck.

Farkas drilled the far-right post with a shot in the 76th minute, which led to a Warriors corner kick. After both teams challenged for a header, the ball bounced to the feet of sophomore Travis Levy, who took one touch and fired a shot past Manalapan junior goalkeeper Chase Lee to tie the game with 3:43 showing on the clock.

The first 10 minutes of overtime featured more chances on both ends of the field than did the second overtime period, but it was in the final overtime session that Lustig delivered his deciding shot. The play started with him on the right side of the field and Manasquan forced the ball off his foot near the edge of the 18-yard box, which prompted the Braves to work the ball around the perimeter of the box. Junior Adriano Lia played the ball out wide to senior Alex Bronfman, who hit a deflected shot that squared up the crossbar. Lustig stayed with the play and beat the defense to the ball inside the box, which set up an easy finish in an exposed net to end the game with 1:54 remaining in the final overtime.

“The guys who came off the bench today brought a ton of energy,” Lustig said. “Our midfield was amazing today. Everyone on the field put in a shift and that’s what you have to do to win.”

Manalapan had to respond to an early haymaker from Manasquan, which came on a goal by Farkas on a breakaway 3:06 into the match. The Braves drew even in the 22nd minute, when Lustig found Russo on the left wing for an attack and finish to the far corner of the goal.

Thursday was the third overtime game Manalapan has played this season and each of the first two ended in a draw, including a 0-0 tie at Rumson-Fair Haven in the Braves’ last match on Sept. 19. The other was a 2-2 stalemate against Freehold Township in the season-opener, which featured a red card for both teams and a late equalizer by Manalapan to send the game to overtime.

The Braves also lost a 1-0 decision to No. 1 Colts Neck – a game in which Russo did not play while serving a suspension for a red card issued during the Freehold Township draw and senior center midfielder Ethan Rosenfeld missed due to a family matter. The Braves are also learning under the direction of first-year head coach Brandon Downey, who was promoted from freshman coach to head coach for the season

“We don’t want anyone to get in our heads,” Russo said. “Every game, everyone is always trying to get in our head. We went into this game trying to stay in calm mode and just focus on finishing.”

Manalapan’s other wins this season were a 3-2 win over Point Pleasant Boro in which the Braves had to hold on after going up, 3-0; an 11-1 win against an overmatched New Egypt side; and a well-rounded, 4-0 victory over Class A North division rival Howell.

Thursday’s win held particular significance for Lustig, Russo, Lee, Rosenfeld and Manalapan’s other returning starters: senior forward Dan Altman, junior outside back Evan Gluzman and senior center back Pat Hearn. Last season, Manalapan won its SCT group, but had to play Howell – the senior-heavy, two-time SCT runner-up – in the first round, followed by a trip to eventual SCT champion Colts Neck in the round of 16 due to the predetermined pairings.

This year, the eight group winners will all receive first-round byes and will be seeded by a committee of coaches, which could favor the Braves should they win their group and continue to challenge for the Class A North division championship. With a win over Point Boro already in hand, Thursday’s victory over Manasquan gives Manalapan the inside track at a first-place finish in the group, a first-round bye and a potential favorable seed when the Shore Conference Tournament begins on Oct. 14.

“We came into this game knowing this was basically the first round of the Shore Conference Tournament,” Lustig said. “Last year, we played Howell and then, unfortunately, Colts Neck in the second round. We knew how important this game was.”

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