Howell senior Tye Maser defended by Ocean senior Evan Moran. (Image: Matt Manley)

No. 1 Howell Boys Soccer Pulls Out Wild Opener Over Ocean

Matt Manley|September 11, 2024|Last Updated September 12, 2024

FARMINGDALE — The last two years have challenged the Howell boys soccer team with a long list of scenarios, but Tuesday’s season opener against Ocean Township threw a test at the Rebels that they had yet to face.

For the first time, Howell faced an opponent as the preseason No. 1 team in the Shore Conference, and the Rebels were met with a spirited effort often reserved for teams of Howell’s stature.

They faced a deficit late in the first half before senior Tye Maser scored the tying and game-winning goals in the final 15 minutes to give Howell a wild, 4-3 win over Ocean in a back-and-forth slugfest.

“I think every game we go into, we have to give it everything we have because everyone is going to be targeting us,” Maser said. “We’re a very good team, everybody knows that, and there are going to be a lot of other really good teams out there like Ocean was today. I think we have to bring it every single game or we might not get the results we’re used to.”

The results Howell has gotten used to over the last two years are among the best in the Shore Conference — certainly among the conference’s public-school teams. In 2022 and 2023 combined, the Rebels went 26-6-5, and they return nine seniors who played key roles on last year’s team.  That resumé is the basis for Howell’s No. 1 ranking in the conference to open the season, but the Spartans looked poised to knock Howell off its perch on Tuesday.

Ocean scored consecutive goals in the 52nd and 59th minutes by junior Brandon Johnson and sophomore Connor Shaw to swing a 2-1 deficit to a 3-2 lead. Johnson lofted a shot from the left corner that sailed over the reach of Howell sophomore goalkeeper Brady Murphy and dropped into the far right corner for an equalizer. Shaw ripped a shot from the top of the 18-yard box off a touch for a 3-2 Spartans lead in the 59th.

“We realized we’re not just going to dominate the whole game,” senior Tyler Borenstein said. “We faced a team that came at us and at first, we didn’t really know what to do, so we regrouped and we went right back at them.”

Howell tied the game in the 67th minute off a scrum in front of the goal, set up by a well-served free kick by Borenstein, who put the ball on frame. When the ball fell to the turf, the scrum ensued and Maser poked the ball over the end line, where classmate John Fiorillo ripped it into the back of the net for good measure.

In the 77th minute, senior Kam Brown played classmate Nick Turturro free up the left side, and Turturro beat the defense to the end line, where he rifled a cross to the front of the goal. Maser got his foot to the ball just in front of an Ocean defender and again scored from point-blank range to give his team a 4-3 lead.

Howell jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a 40-yard shot by junior Dylan Johansen in the seventh minute, when Ocean goalkeeper Matt Makower came well up off his line. Ocean nearly drew even in the 35th on a free kick by senior Jacob Gomez that struck the bottom half of the crossbar, then finally tied it when senior Noor Eraky stole the ball in the Howell defensive third and ripped a finish to the far right corner of the goal in the 48th minute.

It took only 37 seconds of game clock for the Rebels to regain the lead. Ocean was whistled for an illegal pass back to the goalkeeper at a spot just inside the six-yard box, giving Howell an indirect free kick right in front of the goal. With Ocean’s entire team forming a wall in goal, Maser touched the ball live and Borenstein blasted it through the wall and into the goal for a 2-1 Rebels lead in the 49th minute.

“We just wanted it more,” Borenstein said of Howell’s goal-scoring. “We want it more than you: that’s our mentality every game, and when you want it, that’s what’s going to happen.”

After coasting through the first 35 minutes, Howell scrambled to regain control of the game after Gomez rang the crossbar and Ocean turned the momentum for the first 20 minutes of the second half. Howell’s depth was tested throughout the match, with senior Quinn Mills out due to injury and classmate Eric Pray coming off the field, leaving the Rebels down two defenders while they were already starting a new goalkeeper in Murphy.

Howell coach Rich Yuro adjusted by moving Maser from an attacking midfield position to a defensive one. Despite that, the senior pushed up for two of his team’s goals.

Turturro also came off the field while dealing with leg cramps and returned to the field in time to set up Maser’s winning goal.

“One of our main focuses this year is to create more chances up top,” Maser said. “Nick is a great striker, but he is almost too good. You have to throw two or three defenders on him all the time, so he can’t do it all by himself. So we want to get the ball forward, get guys in the box, create more opportunities and finish the ball.”

Over the last three seasons, Howell has played in four tournament championship games and lost in all four. Two of those losses were to Christian Brothers Academy in the 2022 and 2023 Shore Conference Tournament finals, and the other two were in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV finals — to Freehold Township in 2021 and Princeton in 2023. Both teams went on to play in the Group IV finals in their respective sectional championship seasons, with Princeton winning the overall championship last year.

Howell has played with some of the state’s best teams, and with nine senior starters, a talented junior in Johansen and a promising sophomore in goal, the Rebels hope to become one of those teams by finishing off a title this year. Tuesday’s opener showed them there is work to be done, but Howell’s ability to pick up a win despite facing some early adversity made the win more encouraging than not for the Rebels.

“I think we’re a very good team, a very talented team that can go pretty far,” Maser said. “It takes a little bit of time because a lot of us don’t play with each other during the (offseason), so we get two weeks to play with each other when we come back. Right now, we’re just getting back into that groove, playing a little bit different than last year and trying new things. I think we’ll be just as good, if not better, than last year.”

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