Back in the Big Time: CBA Rallies, Returns to the Shore Conference Soccer Final

NEPTUNE — No program has appeared in the Shore Conference Tournament championship game more times than Christian Brothers Academy, but while CBA in the championship game is common, it is no guarantee.

Last year’s Colts team felt the shock of losing in the semifinal to eventual champion Middletown South, one year after CBA’s run of three consecutive championships ended with a loss to Colts Neck in the 2024 championship game. It has been three years since CBA has stood at the top of the Shore Conference mountain, and on Wednesday against Colts Neck in this year’s semifinal, a trip to the final again looked as though it might slip through CBA’s grasp.

Instead, the Colts finished the first half with a bang and played a second half befitting of a champion.

After going down a goal 20 minutes into the match, CBA tied the game four minutes before halftime and won it with a goal by senior Liam Wheeler in the 56th minute, sealing a 2-1 victory over Colts Neck that sends the Colts to the SCT championship Saturday vs. Manasquan at Memorial Field in Neptune.

“It’s huge for us,” Wheeler said of making it back to the final. “Honestly, last year, it was an unfortunate loss in the semifinals. This year, something had to change.”

 

Liam Wheeler settles the ball with his chest and powers in the go-ahead goal for CBA in the 56th minute. CBA leads Colts Neck 2-1. https://t.co/DY1S9aPMAY

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) October 21, 2026

Two days after avenging a regular-season loss to Manalapan by knocking off the No. 1 seed in the tournament, 1-0, the ninth-seeded Colts fell into an early hole against a team looking to do the same thing to the Colts that the Colts did to Manalapan. CBA defeated Colts Neck, 2-0, on Sept. 30 with two goals by senior Justin Arias in the final 15 minutes, and the Cougars were out to prove that was a one-off. If there was any doubt Colts Neck could flip the scoreboard on CBA, the Cougars were coming off a 4-2 quarterfinal win over a Toms River North team that defeated Colts Neck, 5-2, during the group stage of the tournament.

From the opening kickoff, Colts Neck’s adjustment was apparent. The Cougars have used star senior Sean Moore more in the attacking center midfield instead of his usual striker position over the last two weeks, and that brought CBA’s midfield into the defensive equation even more than usual. Senior Romeo Guida started as the defensive center midfielder locked on Moore, then shifted to center back when junior Cristian Notaro came on as a midfielder.

“I knew nothing about it until I got on the bus. Coach (Tom Mulligan) was like, ‘You and Hunter (Hueth) have got to figure that out between you two,'” Guida said. “We figured it out. We tend to lock him up and go back and forth on how we were going to switch. In the second half, a young star stepped up. Cristian Notaro had to come in for Hunter, so I went from the midfield to the back. I knew I could do both and get the job done.”

Facing an altered formation with Moore in the midfield and classmate Pedro Navroski, CBA took time to adjust and eventually gave up the first goal of the match on a turnover. Sophomore Leo Shatku stole a pass on the CBA side of the field, aggressively dribbled in the direction of the goal, and slipped a pass to senior Pedro Navroski, who made a run toward the near-left post. Navroski collected the pass and ripped it to the far-right corner for a 1-0 Colts Neck lead 20:01 into the game.

“I think it was just a mistake after a win,” Guida said. “We won the ball; it was just a mistake clearance, and they went straight through, good finish. It wasn’t anything as a result of what we had planned. Just a mistake.”

Navroski’s goal was Colts Neck’s second shot of the game and thanks to a shift in momentum, it would also be the Cougars’ last shot. Still, CBA had to score to win, and that first score finally came with just under five minutes left in the first half.

Guida collected the ball near midfield and spotted fellow junior Roger Macky heading toward the left side of the 18-yard box. Guida delivered a diagonal ball over the defense that hit Macky in stride, setting him up for a volley that he popped over a defender and charging freshman goalkeeper Jonas Camera into the far-right corner of the goal with 4:57 left until halftime.

 

CBA ties it in the 36th on a goal by Roger Macky off a pinpoint long ball from Romeo Guida. 1-1. https://t.co/PC0nqfTYot

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) October 21, 2026

“Roger is my ex-PSA (Princeton Soccer Academy) club teammate,” Guida said. “We always had the chemistry. I knew he was going to be ready for that diagonal ball. I heard Arias screaming for it, but I knew I had to go for the diagonal. It found Roger, and he put it away.

“We knew we had to get one going into halftime. That really switched the momentum, and we knew it was our game from that point, because we’re supposedly a second half team. We’re hoping to change that.”

Now level with Colts Neck at the open of the second half, CBA prepared to impose its will on the Cougars for the remainder of the game. The only action resembling a threat for Colts Neck in the second half was a one-two combination played by Moore and Navroski that CBA senior Matt Papagni broke up before Moore could get off a shot from just outside the six-yard box.

“Across the whole season, one thing we have learned is we are a second-half team,” Wheeler said. “We’re trying to work on that – come out the same way in the first half as we do in the second. Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly like that today. We started off a little slow, so our halftime talk included coming out knowing what we were going to do. I knew something had to happen; I needed to be more involved, and I just so happened to be on a cross.”

From there, CBA controlled possession and eventually turned that control into the game-winner. Sophomore Landon Valentine served a deep diagonal pass from the right flank to the left side of the 18-yard box. A Colts Neck defender headed it toward the other end of the box, where Wheeler was positioned for it. He settled the ball with his chest and ripped a shot that squirted past Camera and into the goal after the freshman goalie got a piece of it with a diving attempt.

“It wasn’t exactly the prettiest goal, but that’s sometimes how that happens,” Wheeler said. “I saw a cross, and I knew it wouldn’t be fully cleared. It bounced up, I positioned myself in that spot, brought it down, and I just hit the ball in.”

Camera made six saves in the match, including a sprawling stop on a six-yard pelt by senior John Little in a bid to make the score 3-1, in the 68th minute.

Moore entered Wednesday with seven goals and four assists through three rounds of the Shore Conference Tournament and did not add to those totals against CBA. Wednesday marked the fifth game in which Moore was shut out of recording either a goal or an assist, and two of those games were against CBA.

“He is a big target,” Wheeler said of Moore. “One of our main priorities was marking him to our full ability. The first time we played them, we did the exact same thing. We noticed this game; he moved from striker to center midfield, so we adjusted.”

Through four rounds of the SCT, CBA has faced only opponents it also faced during the regular season, and that trend will continue in Saturday’s championship game vs. third-seeded Manasquan. Both CBA and Manasquan competed in Group 1 in SCT group play, and Manasquan beat the Colts, 2-0, in Manasquan on Oct. 6 to clinch first place in the group, plus a first-round bye.

CBA has already avenged one regular-season loss during the tournament: a 1-0 win at Manalapan in the quarterfinals after the Braves beat CBA, 4-3, in overtime in September. With one more payback win, the Colts would add to their current record with their 14th SCT championship. Manasquan has never won a Shore Conference Tournament title.

“We knew getting to the final wasn’t just a given for us,” Guida said. “We knew that last year’s team was really disappointed. Seeing all those kids cry after the game, we wanted to do this for them. It’s not just for the seniors on this team. It’s for the seniors in the past. They didn’t get to the final last year; they lost in the final the year before. We’re not losing in the final.”