Boys Soccer NJSIAA Tournament Preview: The Shore in Group 2

Since 2018, four different Shore Conference teams from this year’s Group II Tournament have won a sectional title, three have played in a state final and two have won overall group championships. That pedigree bordering on a prerequisite to compete in the Central Jersey Group II bracket this season, which also includes Delran (eight straight sectional titles before last season) and Robbinsville (three straight sectional titles).

On the other end of the spectrum are Point Pleasant Boro and Manasquan, which are still seeking their first sectional titles during the 2000’s. Manasquan has come close over the last decade, while Point Boro is back among the top seeds in the section as one of the hottest teams heading into the tournament.

As loaded as the Central Jersey section is, the defending Group II champion hails from South Jersey, with Sterling looking to defending its sectional title before getting to the group semifinal stage to face the Central Jersey champion.

 

Central Jersey Group II

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 3 Point Pleasant Boro, No. 5 Holmdel, No. 6 Ocean, No. 7 Manasquan, No. 9 Rumson-Fair Haven, No. 11 Wall, No. 15 Keyport
Top Seed: Bordentown
Defending Champion: No. 4 Robbinsville
Favorite: Robbinsville. In a wide-open bracket, there is something to be said for the program that has gotten the job done year after year. Robbinsville has won three straight sectional championship games, with two appearances in the Group III final before joining Group II a season ago and losing to Sterling in the Group II semifinal.

Dark Horse: No. 10 Delran. Robbinsville is the most successful team in this section over the last three seasons, but Delran has the edge since the start of the Post-COVID-year Era. The Bears boast one of the state’s most decorated public-school programs and although they are only 6-10-1, they have again played a stacked schedule and head into the playoffs prepared for anything and everything. Delran nearly entered the state tournament on a long losing streak, but snapped a six-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over Toms River North. Five of those six losses were by a single goal.

As a Class A North team in a Group II field, Rumson-Fair Haven is another dangerous team that will start the tournament on the road. The Bulldogs are a hard-working team with one of the best goalkeepers in the section in senior Jack DelPriore, which should make Rumson a tough out for No. 8 Allentown in round one and, perhaps, top-seeded Bordentown in round two.

Wall takes a sub-.500 record into the NJSIAA Tournament, but has had some high points during the year that should make them a scary match-up for any team that has to get through the Crimson Knights – starting with Shore Conference rival Ocean in the first round. The most notable of those high notes for Wall was a 1-0 win over Shore Conference Tournament champion and Central Jersey Group III No. 2 seed Middletown South.

Keyport is the Shore’s ultimate underdog, moving up from Group I this season now that Keansburg soccer players are part of the co-op program. The Red Raiders are an even 8-8 heading into Tuesday’s NJSIAA opener and will have their work cut out for them against No. 2 Cinnaminson.

Bracket Breakdown: Through the first three weeks of the season, Point Boro looked like it would have to scramble just to make the NJSIAA Central Group II playoffs. Since that 1-6-1 start to the season, the Panthers are 11-1-1 and have ascended to the No. 3 seed in the section – the best seed of any team from the Shore Conference. CBA is the only team to beat Point Boro since Sept. 23 and now, the Panthers will try to march toward their first sectional title since 1996.

Point Boro will share a side of the bracket with Ocean, Manasquan and Wall, with Ocean and Wall doing battle in round one. Ocean has been a streaky side throughout the season and will attempt to ride their top players – Brandon Cosentino, Connor Shaw, Lucas Renvoize, Luciano Ibarra and goalkeeper Matt Makowar – to another deep run through the state playoffs. Ocean is the last Shore team to win a Group III championship, which came in 2018, and will try to end the Shore’s Group II drought, which also started after Holmdel’s 2018 title.

Manasquan is after its first sectional title and if the Warriors can survive Delran in the first round, they could be a very tough out. Senior Cruz Farkas has been part of the effort to end that drought since he was a freshman and the rest of the team is comprised mostly of starters who have not played many – if any – state-tournament minutes. Despite that, Manasquan is a challenge for any team in the section because of its athleticism, work ethic and the presence of Farkas up top.

On the other side of the bracket, Holmdel is trying to get back to the top of Group II for the first time since winning the second of its two consecutive championships in 2018. The Hornets have a similar draw to the one that Rumson faces, with Holmdel facing the possibility of a trip to Robbinsville in the quarterfinals and, potentially a rematch with Rumson if both teams can prevail in their respective weeks. Holmdel has a senior-drive team with a dangerous junior scorer in Lucas Nobrega for a mix that made the Hornets competitive in Class A North and should give them a chance in Group II.

Prediction: Robbinsville over Ocean. The Spartans are hoping to return to the sectional final round for the first time since 2019, but they have not stopped winning tournament games over the last five years either. Getting by Wall in round one will be tougher than most first-round challenges for teams in this section, but Ocean is always ready for a November challenge and Central Jersey Group III will be just that for every team in the field.

South Jersey Group II

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 12 Manchester, No. 13 Barnegat
Top Seed: Lindenwold
Defending Champion: No. 3 Sterling
Favorite: Sterling. The defending Group II champions will have an edge over the rest of the field based on last year’s championship experience. The Silver Knights aren’t a goal-scoring factory, but they keep games under control and have been opportunistic behind top goal-scorer and returning 2024 starter Connor Maenner.

Dark Horse: No. 10 Haddon Heights. After opening up the season with a 6-0 loss to No. 6 Haddonfield, Haddon Heights did not lose a game by more than a one-goal margin while scoring wins over No. 2 West Deptford and No. 7 Collingswood on the way to a .500 record. Among the teams that beat the Garnets by a single goal were Sterling (twice), Haddonfield, and Lindenwold, and Haddon Heights’s three ties were against West Deptford, Lindenwold and South Group I No. 1 seed Haddon Township.

Barnegat and Manchester will aim to upset their way to the semifinals and Barnegat has a rather compelling case as a potential sleeper in the field. The Bengals have a dynamic goalkeeper in Donovan Paul, some senior scoring in Riley Stolte and Leo Chamorro and enough high-level tests on their schedule (CBA, Toms River East, Brick, St. John Vianney, Ranney, Lacey) to have them ready for the top teams in South Jersey Group II.

Manchester’s first-round test appears to be tougher than that of Barnegat, which also beat Manchester during the group stage of the Shore Conference Tournament. The Hawks lost a tough game to Lindenwold at home in last year’s sectional quarterfinal round and will try to beat the team Lindenwold upset in last year’s first round when Manchester travels to No. 5 Seneca. Should both Manchester and Barnegat pull off first-round upsets, the two Shore Conference schools would meet with a trip to the sectional semifinal on the line – likely at No. 1 Lindenwold.

Bracket Breakdown: Lindenwold reached the 2024 sectional semifinals as a No. 11 seed and ended its season with a hard-to-swallow, 1-0 loss to Haddonfield after knocking off both Seneca and Manchester on the road in the first two rounds. Now, the Lions are a No. 1 seed thanks to a stellar group of juniors who would like to take their postseason run a step further.

West Deptford, Sterling, Seneca and Haddonfield all shape up to be the favorites as teams that either had success in last year’s tournament, put forth a strong showing against quality opponents during this season, or a mix of both. No. 4 Cedar Creek, Collinswood and Haddon Heights are in the next tier of contenders and are not far off from the top five teams in the section, which showed last year that the champion can come from anywhere in the bracket.

Prediction: Seneca over West Deptford. Sometimes, championship experience from the prior year proved invaluable. Other times, a loss from the prior year serves as motivation. Both Seneca and West Deptford have players who have been waiting a year to get back to the state tournament after difficult, season-ending losses – Seneca, 1-0, to Lindenwold in the opening round and West Deptford as the No. 1 seed to Sterling in the sectional semifinals.