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CBA Serves Up Revenge Win Over Colts Neck in Epic Regular-Season Clash

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

COLTS NECK — After he served up two perfect passes for assists in the first half of his team’s game Friday at Colts Neck, Christian Brothers Academy sophomore Joe Guastella had a message for his team that sounded like it came from a senior captain instead of an underclassmen who was a freshman coming off the bench a year ago.

When it comes to CBA and Colts Neck — the No. 2 and No. 1 teams in the current Shore Sports Insider Top 10, respectively, and the two Shore Conference Tournament finalists a year ago — a two-goal lead is rarely safe.

“I didn’t even think of last year until Joe came in the huddle at halftime and said, ‘It’s not enough. We came back last year against them,'” CBA senior captain James Brady said. “Obviously, the cushion was huge and that turned out to maybe be the biggest play of the game.”

Guastella turned out to be correct, which is why his early second-half goal to go with his two assists turned out to be the difference in a 3-2 CBA win over Colts Neck that flipped the result of last year’s SCT final.

CBA sophomore Joe Guastella. (Photo: Doug Phillips) - CBA at Colts Neck

CBA sophomore Joe Guastella. (Photo: Doug Phillips)

CBA’s victory on Friday extended its winning streak to seven, ended Colts Neck’s season-opening winning streak at six, and served as a measure of revenge for last year’s 3-2 win by Colts Neck in the SCT final. In last year’s championship game, it was CBA that erased a 2-0 deficit in the second half, only for Colts Neck to win the game on a goal by 2025 graduate Kyle Moore.

“The motivation was very high,” said Brady, who scored the first CBA goal on Friday. “Walking off that field last year, seeing all of the seniors who can’t play this year and how upset they were that we couldn’t get it done definitely stuck with a lot of us. They (Colts Neck) are a state-ranked team, they are at the top of (the Class) A North (division), but we’ll most likely see them again, so we can’t get too full of ourselves. It’s great that we beat them today, but we might have to beat them again.”

Colts Neck senior Tyler Spencer and CBA sophomore Joe Guastella battle for the ball. (Photo: Doug Phillips) - CBA at Colts Neck

Colts Neck senior Tyler Spencer and CBA sophomore Joe Guastella battle for the ball. (Photo: Doug Phillips)

Playing on a Colts Neck High School grass field that is significantly smaller in surface area and more unpredictable in its bounces than CBA’s home turf pitch, CBA played with a more deliberate attack that put less emphasis on keeping the ball and more on attacking the flanks, sending passes into the box and maintaining discipline on defense.

“We knew the game wasn’t over,” Guastella said. “Soccer is a game of goals. Anyone can score at any given moment, so we tried to take it one play at a time, don’t switch off.”

The first pay-off from the strategy came in the 28th minute, when Guastella carried the ball to the edge of the 18-yard box on the right side, waited for a run by Brady and served a cross to the top of the six-yard box that Brady headed into the left side of the netting for his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

“We have a lot of goal-scorers, but I think one role for me is to make sure the team stays up when we’re up, and that we get up if we’re lacking energy,” said Brady, who is one of CBA’s captains. “I’m wearing the arm band so I have to be the vocal guy out there and do my best to lead the boys.”

“We knew coming into the season we were two returning guys who were going to be on the ball a lot,” Guastella said. “We knew we had to connect. We have a lot of chemistry on the field and off the field.”

Early in the 36th minute, Guastella again found himself with the ball on the right corner of the attacking third and created enough space for another cross. This time, Guastella served the ball to the far post, where junior Justin Arias slammed a header in for a 2-0 CBA lead with 4:53 to go before halftime.

“I got that first assist and I was kind of feeling myself to be honest,” Guastella said. “I was hungry from last year, losing 3-2 in the final. It was a revenge game.”

“He is super creative,” Brady said of Guastella. “We have played together in preseason and last year so much that I know what he’s doing. It’s second nature now. I see him make that move down the line, and I know it’s coming and where he’s going.”

Recalling how its team erased a 2-0 halftime deficit against Colts Neck in last year’s SCT championship, CBA was intent on scoring the first goal of the second half on Friday, which the Colts did within three minutes of the first whistle of the half. Colts Neck attempted to clear the ball away from its goal and it landed at the feet of Guastella, who settled it and ripped a shot from 15 yards out that slipped inside the near right post for a 3-0 Colts advantage in the 43rd minute.

“I saw the space closing in and I said, ‘Why not?,'” Guastella said of his goal. “I felt the connection. It was a good connection. I felt it the second I hit it.”

Guastella’s goal matched Brady for the team lead with five, and he also leads CBA with seven assists. The sophomore saw significant minutes off the bench with a handful of starts as a freshman and has emerged as one of the Colts’ key pieces in his second high school season.

Just as CBA scored its first two goals on headers, Colts Neck found similar success in climbing back into the game during the middle stage of the second half. Just like CBA did, Colts Neck scored its headers on services by the same player. Senior Ben Kazani set up both goals, the first of which came from the right corner and was headed in by senior defender Dillon Younger in the 51st minute.

Colts Neck inched closer in the 67th, with Kazani playing a free kick from the left side and senior Gabe Kruglyanski heading it in to pull the Cougars within 3-2.

The goals by Younger and Kruglyanski represented Colts Neck’s only two shots of the game until the final minute, at which point Cougars leading scorer Sean Moore finally worked his way into a scoring opportunity. Early in the final minute, the junior striker slipped behind the defense for a clean look at the goal, but his one-timed volley scooted wide of the left post.

CBA senior Finn McCarthy (middle) shadows Colts Neck junior Sean Moore, with CBA senior Charlie Messano providing support. (Photo: Doug Phillips) - CBA at Colts Neck

CBA senior Finn McCarthy (middle) shadows Colts Neck junior Sean Moore, with CBA senior Charlie Messano providing support. (Photo: Doug Phillips)

Moore entered Friday with eight goals in six games, with at least one goal in each, making Friday the first time a team has kept him off the board. Moore was the primary focus of CBA’s defense, which marked him with senior outside back Charlie Messano.

“Our main goal was to keep him scoreless,” Messano said. “We kept a man on him, which was me, and we have four in the back at all times. We just kept pressuring him, not letting him turn.”

Moore scored on a penalty kick in last year’s SCT final on the way to a Shore-leading 29 goals and 13 assists. He and his older brother, Kyle, were both All-Shore First-Team players in 2024 and CBA faced less of a dilemma on Friday with only one Moore to shadow.

“It was definitely a lot harder last year because there were two of them to worry about,” Messano said. “This year, we just had to focus on one main goal-scorer. Then we just played one-two, kick it to the corner and get some crosses in, which worked really well.”

Since tying LaSalle Academy teams from both Pennsylvania and Rhode Island and losing to Monroe in its first in-state game, CBA has won seven straight games and now leads the field in the Shore Conference Class A North division race with a perfect 4-0 mark.

“This is a great win, but it’s just one win,” Guastella said. “The most important game is always the next game. This is in the past, and we’re focused on Monday.”

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