Boys Soccer NJSIAA Tournament Preview: The Shore in Group 4

For the first time since 2010, the reigning NJSIAA Group IV champion hails from the Shore Conference. Southern Regional caught fire last November and claimed its first ever group championship and the Rams are now prepared to defend the title with a different roster and a new head coach in John Nacarlo, who has won four NJSIAA group championships at Holmdel.

Southern is one of six Shore Conference teams in Group IV and will compete with Toms River North and Central in South Jersey, while Marlboro, Manalapan and Jackson Township make their plays for a championship in Central Jersey. While Southern broke through in 2024, Toms River North has been painfully close to breaking through and reaching the Group IV final since winning the South Jersey Group IV crown as a No. 16 seed in 2019 — the first of three straight sectional championships by the Mariners and one of five sectional-final appearances in the last six years.

Marlboro and Manalapan are the Class A North teams in Central Jersey and will give the Shore a chance at winning another competitive section. Manalapan is 11 years removed from its last sectional title, while Marlboro aims for its first ever. It has been 18 years since a Monmouth County team won an overall Group IV title, which was also the last time Manalapan captured a share of the Group IV championship.

Freehold Township’s run to the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals suggests the Patriots would have also been a tough out in this field, but three in-season red cards rendered one of the most decorated programs in the section over the last two decades ineligible to participate in the state tournament.

Central Jersey Group IV

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 5 Marlboro, No. 6 Manalapan, No. 14 Jackson
Top Seed: Monroe
Defending Champion: No. 4 Princeton
Favorite: Monroe. It will not be an easy road for the section’s No. 1 seed, which could have to go through 15-win No. 8 seed Montgomery and defending champion Princeton before the championship round. Monroe’s only losses are to unbeaten St. Joseph Metuchen (twice), South Non-Public A No. 1 seed Pingry and three-time reigning group finalist Robbinsville, so it takes a certain amount of cache to beat the Falcons.

Dark Horse: No. 11 Trenton. The home teams will all be rather decided favorites in the first round – even in the 8-vs.-9 game – so it’s hard to find a sleeper in the group beyond that 15-win No. 8 seed (not really a sleeper). Trenton looks like the most dangerous of the eight road teams, with the Tornadoes entering the tournament 12-7. Of those seven losses, five are by one goal and two of those are against reigning sectional champion Princeton. Manalapan will be a tough first-round opponent, but the Braves have had some scoring issues lately that could keep Trenton in the game should they persist.

Jackson is the lone Shore Conference team that will be on the road in round one and the Jaguars will take their best shot against No. 3 Old Bridge. The Knights appear to be the most vulnerable of the top-four seeds and Jackson has faced down enough competition to be ready for the test.

Bracket Breakdown: With four impressive teams filling out the top four seeds and the aforementioned No. 8 seed with 15 wins, the Shore teams in the field will have to be at their best to contend for a sectional championship in Central Jersey Group IV. Marlboro enters the tournament with a .500 winning percentage (7-7-4) and a season-long goal-differential of minus-5, but the Mustangs have also been tested with a difficult schedule throughout their season. They let losses to Toms River North (4-1) and Ocean (5-1) get away from them and every other game Marlboro has played this season has been tight – a good situation to be familiar with for any team trying to survive this bracket.

Manalapan opened the season as the Shore’s No. 1 team after going 17-3-4 in 2025 and has been fighting to find its top form all season while showing glimpses of it at times. Lately, scoring has been the Braves’ issue, but holding opponents to three goals in the last eight games is an encouraging sign for a team that has the scoring threats to be dangerous over the next one-to-three weeks.

For either Manalapan or Marlboro to make a run to the championship game, it will likely require beating two of the top four seeds and in Manalapan’s case, the first round won’t be an easy matchup either. Even in the event that Monroe or Hunterdon Central get picked off, having to beat No. 7 East Brunswick or Montgomery would also be a tall order. Both Class A North squads have proven they can play with anyone, so both belong on the list of contenders in the section – a list that legitimately goes eight deep.

Prediction: Monroe over Hunterdon Central. Princeton tends to thrive in November, but with potentially Marlboro, either Monroe or Montgomery, and any of Hunterdon Central, Old Bridge, Manalapan or East Brunswick standing in the way, their road to a championship will be arduous. Monroe will be fueled by memories of losing to Princeton in last year’s Central Group IV championship game.

South Jersey Group IV

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 5 Southern, No. 6 Toms River North, No. 16 Central
Top Seed: Washington Twp.
Defending Champion: Southern
Favorite: Washington Twp. The Minutemen rolled into Saturday’s South Jersey Coaches Cup championship on an 18-game unbeaten streak and will be playing on its home grass pitch for as long as they are still kicking in this tournament. Motivation will not be a problem for Washington Township, which hosts the same Central team that knocked the top-seeded Minutemen out in last year’s sectional quarterfinal round. That could also make Washington Township vulnerable from day one of the tournament, but it will not be because the Minutemen are overlooking Central.

Dark Horse: No. 11 Lenape. Two powerhouses in the section meet in Toms River Tuesday, when Toms River North hosts Lenape and it is a tough draw for both sides. Toms River North has had trouble scoring for much of the year, but the Mariners can hold the ball and defend. Lenape is also tough to crack, as the Indians have allowed only three teams – Moorestown, Delran and Washington (twice) – to score more than once against them while not allowing any team to score more than three times (Delran and Washington). With a battle-tested group, Lenape will be hard to put away and whichever team survives that first round battle in Toms River will be a handful for No. 3 Cherry Hill East.

Central has battled key injuries throughout the season and is hoping losses like the recent 6-2 defeat vs. Colts Neck are enough to teach the Golden Eagles enough to clean up the mistakes and challenge Washington Township again this season after upsetting the Minutement in last year’s quarterfinal round.

Bracket Breakdown: The two finalists from last year are the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds this season, with Southern and Toms River North both hoping for another run to the sectional final as an under-the-radar contender. It’s hard to consider Toms River North under-the-radar when the Mariners have played in five of the last six sectional final rounds, but this year’s team missed the Shore Conference Tournament and rolls into the state playoffs coming off a Coaches Cup championship.

Southern, meanwhile, is a much different team than the one that caught fire in November en route to its first ever NJSIAA Group IV championship. In addition to having one of the state’s most relentless strikers in Aiden Donnelly, the Rams also got to play at home in every round of the tournament until the overall Group IV final – a perk they almost certainly will not have this year were they to make a similar run in the section.

Southern and Toms River North are just two of the teams outside the top four seeds with a legitimate chance to win the section, which includes No. 7 Eastern and aforementioned Lenape. All four of those teams will be out to knock off No. 2 Cherokee and No. 3 Cherry Hill East, with Cherokee only recently losing a 1-0 game to St. Augustine that snapped a five-game winning streak and Cherry Hill East looking to shake off a 2-4 stretch heading into the playoffs that includes losses to Eastern, Lenape and Washington.

Prediction: No. 4 Egg Harbor over Lenape. Something about this year’s South Jersey bracket looks like it has the potential to get flipped on its head this year – not unlike last year’s bracket, which ended with the No. 4 seed beating the No. 7 seed in the championship game. Egg Harbor is flying under the radar among the Group IV contenders, but has a lot to like about its résumé. The Eagles sport three losses and three ties, with two losses and one tie coming vs. St. Augustine and the other loss a 1-0 decision vs. reigning Group III champion Shawnee in the Coaches Cup semifinals. Egg Harbor has been through the battles, is capable of winning at Washington Township and is certainly overdue for a sectional title after knocking on the door several times over the last decade.