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Manalapan Boys Soccer Begins SCT Gauntlet with Win Over Howell

Matt Manley|October 17, 2024|Last Updated October 19, 2024

MANALAPAN — As the brackets fell into place at the end of last week, Manalapan boys soccer coach Kerry Eisman was flooded with text messages telling him that his team got a rough draw in the Shore Conference Tournament.

Not only did the Braves — ranked No. 2 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10 at 13-1-1 heading into Wednesday — not get one of the five first-round byes; they had to play two-time defending runner-up Howell in the first round for the right to play No. 1 Colts Neck in the second round.

While Eisman did not disagree with the sympathetic texts, he looked at it from a different perspective: Manalapan did not get a bad draw. The teams that have to play Manalapan got a bad draw.

In Wednesday’s SCT opener, Manalapan withstood a challenge from a tournament-tested Howell team and delivered two second-half goals to beat the Rebels, 2-1, and earn that highly-anticipated rematch with Colts Neck Friday at Five Points Park in Colts Neck.

“Our guys knew what was in front of them and they still know what’s in front of us,” Eisman said. “Many people have come up to me or called me or texted me about where we laid out in the bracket and we all talked about it. We don’t care one bit. The only team that has a tough bracket, we feel, is anybody that’s on our side.”

Junior Ethan Lustig was the offensive catalyst for Manalapan, setting up goals by classmates Dan Altman and Eduardo Russo that proved to be just enough to carry the Braves through to the round of 16.

“We have been hearing from a lot of people that we had a tough bracket to start the Shore Conference Tournament,” senior captain and outside back Dylan Cassidy said. “That may be, but that’s not important to us. We’re not focused on the teams we play, we’re focused on winning.”

Howell entered the season as the No. 1 team in the Shore Insider rankings thanks to nine returning players with starting experience, including two First Team All-Shore players in Nick Turturro and Tye Maser. The Rebels season, however, has been beset by injuries and Maser missed his third straight game due to injury after already missing two weeks earlier in the schedule due to a hamstring strain. Turturro, meanwhile, is playing through a sprained left ankle and aggravated the injury in the final two minutes of the first half before returning to the field to start the second half.

Despite the hardship, Howell gave Manalapan one of its toughest tests of the season. Up until Altman’s goal in the 58th minute, the shots and shots-on-goal stats were even at 6-6 and 1-1, respectively and Howell owned a 5-0 edge in corner kicks at the time. Manalapan had the closest miss up to that point, with Howell sophomore goalkeeper Brady Murphy smothering a one-on-one chance for Lustig in the 19th minute after Altman played him in behind the defense.

Howell countered with an attack that leaned on Turturro’s speed and physical play, with fellow seniors Kam Brown, Tyler Borenstein and John Fiorello also feeding the operation as players with big-game experience. Junior Dylan Johansen also factored into the dangerous chances created by the Rebels, with the junior unleashing a shot on goal in the first half while the game was still scoreless.

“I don’t think we played our best game today,” Eisman said. “We’re happy with the win. We feel like we didn’t really play our style, but I’m sure (Howell) had a lot to do with it. That’s a very good team: they are experienced, they are tough, so we knew it would be a battle.”

In the 58th minute, Manalapan finally broke through thanks to a standout effort by Lustig. The junior winger worked his way through and around a host of Howell defenders and got off a near-post shot from the right side of the 18-yard box. Murphy dove and parried the ball off the right post and it fell just outside the goal-line. Altman — who has exhibited an opportunistic nature in scoring 12 goals this season — was the first to reach the loose ball and he poked it into the side of the goal for a 1-0 Manalapan lead.

Howell began its pushed to equalize and in the 71st minute, the Braves countered with the winning score. Lustig again controlled the ball going toward the goal, drew the attention of the defense and this time, slipped a pass through the retreating Rebels back line to Russo. The junior touched the ball into the 18-yard box, drew Murphy off his line, and blasted a shot into the goal for a 2-0 Braves lead.

“Ethan is a non-stop player,” Eisman said of Lustig, who leads Manalapan in both goals (17) and assists (10). “He is going to go at you all game and he went at them all game and eventually he broke through.”

Manalapan’s defense was on top of its game against a dangerous Howell attack and did not falter until the tail-end of the 78th minute, when Turturro positioned himself on the near-left post and knocked in a cross from Brown to make it a tense final two minutes for Manalapan.

“We need to work on our defense because it has been a weak spot for us in a few games this season,” Cassidy said. “Today, I thought the defense really stepped up and played a great game. There was one mistake at the end, but that was it. We dominated the whole game, they didn’t have any chances and that was it.”

“I thought the defense was great,” Eisman said. “They have been great all year and they were great for 79 minutes until they gave up that one. They have taken on some of the best scorers in the Shore Conference and held most of them down. They are so tough.”

The Braves defense, led by Cassidy, senior Ethan Dass, junior Patrick Hearn, sophomore Evan Gluzman and senior Ariel Darocha, and sophomore goalkeeper Chase Lee held on for the final two minutes and Manalapan passed its first major SCT test as it pursues its first conference tournament championship since 2013.

Wednesday’s win over Howell was also sweet for returning players like Cassidy, whose 2023 season ended at the hands of Howell in a 3-1 loss to the Rebels in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV championship. The most recent result exhibited how far the Braves have come in a calendar year, with juniors like Russo, Altman and Hearn providing an influx of talent that helped to replace an 18-man graduating senior class from a year ago.

“There are a lot of guys here who were at that (state tournament) game and they know what happened last year,” Cassidy said. “We’re playing every game at the same intensity but today’s game, we wanted it. That’s a big game for us.”

Now, Manalapan’s attention turns to Colts Neck, with whom Manalapan shared the Shore Conference Class A Central championship this season. The two teams played to a 3-3 draw on Sept. 25, with Manalapan rallying from a 3-0 deficit in the second half.

“Every game is a championship game for us,” Cassidy said. “We came out (vs. Colts Neck) a little sleepy the first time, but we know what we’re doing this time. Everybody is buying in and we’re going to dominate.”

That was one of five games this season in which Manalapan has allowed three goals and the Braves won the other four. While the defensive-minded Eisman would like to see more performances like the one his defense played on Wednesday vs. Howell, he has grown to appreciate his team’s resilience and ability to adapt.

“We would rather not give up three,” Eisman said. “We like to keep a clean sheet and try to play the right way defensively. Sometimes it gets away from us, but they have done a good job of never giving up, staying with it and going after teams for 80 minutes.”

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