The Patriot Way: Freehold Township stuns Manalapan to win Central Jersey Group 4 Title, 1-0

MANALAPAN – Two programs that are no strangers to each other battled one more time for the Central Jersey Group 4 Title. This season the roles were reversed with top-seeded Manalapan entering as the heavy favorite with an unbeaten record. It took a monumental effort from the Freehold Township defense to keep Manalapan off the scoreboard and lay claim to the Central Jersey Group 4 Championship for the fourth time in the last five seasons by a score of 1-0.

The Patriots only needed one goal to put an end to Manalapan’s perfect season and it came in the 27th minute when center back Sihera Karce let a shot fly from over 30 yards out that floated over Braves’ goalkeeper Aryanna Lake. 

“Honestly I just saw the goal and I had the ball and I had space and I was like you know what I am just going to shoot it,” Karce said. “I thought it was going to go straight over. I was so shocked. I play center back and I never thought I was going to score. He (Coach Patterson) said go to the six and I was like alright maybe I can shoot it.”

After graduating so many key pieces over the last three seasons, this Patriot team was a team that did not have many players who saw playing time last season. They had their ups and downs this season as they tried to establish their own identity. 

When the Freehold Township played Manalapan during the regular season it was a 4-1 defeat, but as they navigated one of the toughest schedules in the Shore Conference the Patriots learned from their mistakes and used every loss as an opportunity to learn and improve over the course of the season.

“I went into this game just thinking we were the underdogs,” junior goalie Violet Matthews said. “We had nothing to lose. All we had to do was go out there and want it and that is exactly what we did. We have the talent and we have the ability, we just have to go out there and apply it every single time for the entire game.” 

For Freehold Township, every player left it all on the field to win the sectional title, but one player emerged as the hero of the game. Matthews has brought her game to another level in the Central Jersey Group 4 tournament from stopping penalty kicks to making diving saves on missiles launched at her to getting her foot on the ball while she is on the ground. 

A program with tradition and success like Freehold Township means that sometimes a player needs to wait their turn until their name is called. Matthews, who is a junior, was the back-up goalkeeper for the previous two seasons behind Ashley Moore. Matthews was able to learn from Moore, who was a 4-year starter who won numerous titles with the Patriots. 

“She [Matthews] was our second goalkeeper last year,” Freehold Township head coach Dave Patterson said. “She got to see what those big games were like. When the lights are shining, that is when Violet really shines herself. She is someone who has grown into the role from a confidence standpoint.”

Matthews was challenged all game by the Manalapan attack. Shot after shot she came up with save after save to keep the Braves off the board. Shortly after Freehold Township took the lead, Matthews made a diving save off a direct kick taken by Danielle Butash. From that save on, Matthews was zoned in. 

“I was setting up my wall and I was just going for it,” said Matthews about that save.  “For me as a goalie it is easier if I have a game where I have more shots. Especially because it is colder and I am not just standing there. I was setting up my wall and I was just going to go for it.”

Matthews and the Patriot defense continued to rise to the occasion in the second-half. At one point Matthews was on the ground and was able to get her foot on the ball to save it until it was cleared out of danger. 

“Manalapan is a great team, with a ton of talent all over the place and they put pressure on us all over the place,” Patterson said. “Our defenders dug deep, our midfielders dug deep, and Violet was incredible. It starts with Gianna (Neron) and Christina (Celano) who were truly amazing in stepping in front of balls, getting toe pokes. Keeley (Cook) and Sihera were amazing on the backline and Bella Rosen who helped out from the outside. They were all incredible along the backline.”

 

Freehold Township, playing in one the hardest divisions in New Jersey, entered the state tournament with a 6-10-2 record. Their road to the championship was not an easy one being the six-seed. In the opening round they defeated Marlboro 1-0. Senior Reese Metcalfe was the hero who scored the game winner.

Freshman Morgan Notaro, who has led the Patriots in scoring all season, scored two goals in the quarterfinals to help upset the three-seed Old Bridge 3-2. Notaro also helped send Freehold Township into overtime in the semifinal round when she scored the equalizer against Howell. 

Metcalfe is one of the few seniors who was part of the rotation last season and caused problems for opposing defenses all tournament. Her leadership on the offensive side of the field with the combination of Celano, Rosen and Neron helped lead and shape the young Patriot team all season long. 

“They found a way about two weeks ago,” Patterson said  “We changed the formation again. We have some different personnel we moved around. We played that first way against Steinert in a game we actually lost, but we actually saw a lot of really good things that we liked in it. Each day we came out to training and they bought in a little bit more. Then they won a game, then they won again. They just started to believe in themselves that in a way as coaches we believed in them all year long.”

Freehold Township will travel to Cherokee in the Group 4 semifinals. Cherokee, who was the three-seed, defeated top-seeded Central 1-0 on Friday night to win the South Jersey Group 4 sectional.