Not Forgotten: Spurned Freehold Twp. Boys Soccer Advances to Shore Semis

MANALAPAN — When he first began his journey as a three-year starting defender for the Freehold Township boys soccer team, Bobby Lockard set out to achieve one overriding goal for himself and his fellow classmates: to be remembered.

Standing out in the Freehold Township program is harder than it is at most other places, especially for a Class of 2026 who were freshmen when the Patriots won the second of two consecutive NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV titles and were in sixth grade when Freehold Township won its last Shore Conference Tournament title.

After back-to-back losing seasons in 2023 and 2024, time was running out on the current group of Freehold Township seniors to leave their impression on the program and after enduring an off-the-field setback at the end of last week, those seniors have made sure they won’t soon be forgotten.

Powered by a goal from senior Alex Rivera in the 72nd minute and a spotless defensive effort in front of sophomore goalkeeper Giuseppe Romano, Freehold Township topped Manalapan, 1-0, Monday in the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinal round. Seeded No. 14 in the tournament, the Patriots are headed to the SCT semifinals for the first time since 2019 — the last season in which they won the Shore Conference championship.

Freehold Twp. takes the lead on Manalapan in the 72nd on a header by Alex Rivera. Caine Massey with the cross. 1-0 Pats. pic.twitter.com/MjGm4KxvGo

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) October 20, 2025

“Coming off two poor years and you come back and shock the whole entire Shore, it’s just the best feeling in the world,” Lockard said. “Nothing is better than that. Everybody is counting you out non-stop and all you do is shock everybody.

“We don’t want to be forgotten. That’s my biggest goal is I don’t want to be forgotten. Coming to such a big program, to have three or four years, I want to make a statement, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Monday marked the first time Freehold Township’s players went into a game knowing they would not be eligible to participate in the NJSIAA Tournament after the state denied Freehold Township’s appeal to have its third red card reduced or rescinded. The ruling came down from the NJSIAA executive committee on Wednesday and coach Mike O’Boyle waited until after his team upset third-seeded Toms River South, 1-0, in the SCT round of 16 on Thursday to break the bad news to the players.

Teams that accumulate three or more straight red cards during the season are not eligible to play in the NJSIAA Tournament, per state rules. O’Boyle and his coaching staff were responsible for two of the red cards that cost Freehold Township a chance to play for its third sectional championship in five years — both of which were issued in a 4-1 loss to Monroe on Oct. 4.

“The guys have backed me up, because the game at Monroe, I was just defending them over a call,” O’Boyle said. “I didn’t do anything to the ref. We took our punishment and left (the field). From our vantage point, they reported a false statement and it wound up costing us. The guys know, in that moment, I was defending what they were doing on the field. We preach to them that they shouldn’t be yelling at the refs and you never want to get to that point, but it got to a point that we needed to speak up for them. I think any coach in the Shore, the state would argue the same thing.”

Rather than pack it in for the season, Freehold Township’s players have supported their coaching staff by committing themselves to going as far as possible in the SCT. The Patriots already won a share of the Shore Conference Class B North division championship and entered Monday with 10 wins, so Thursday’s setback off the field was not enough for the players to give back what they already accomplished — and still could accomplish — on the field.

“We have had so much support from so many people,” Rivera said. “We love our coaches. We wouldn’t be here with them and all of these people that were here behind us today.”

O’Boyle served a four-game suspension, during which athletic director and former Freehold Township head coach Josh Mehl coached the team. O’Boyle returned to the sideline for Thursday’s 1-0 overtime win at Toms River South and will lead his team into the semifinals Wednesday against Colts Neck in Neptune.

“I was very emotional at the TR South game the other day, seeing them win in my first game back,” O’Boyle said. “Watching the way they played, seeing them win in overtime, it was just an emotional way to finish the game. My emotions were all over the board and then to have them come over and hug me after the game was special. They have been positive with me the whole time and from the bottom of my heart, I love this group. They are such a good group and they work hard for me on the field, so I’m going to work just as hard for them on the sidelines.”

The first of the three red cards came on opening day against the same Manalapan team that stood in Freehold Township’s path on Monday. In that game, Freehold Township led, 2-1, in the second half when a red card was issued to a player on each team and in the 71st minute, Manalapan tied the game on penalty kick by senior Dan Altman. The two rivals went on to settle for a 2-2 draw.

“Every game, you learn from something that happened and I think that game taught us a lot,” Rivera said. “People were kind of counting us out before the season and we had a chance to win against a really good team. That really motivated us. All year, we have wanted to show what we could do.”

Monday’s game was played closer to the vest, with Freehold Township conceding the majority of the possession to Manalapan, but limiting the openings that would lead the Braves to Romano. Manalapan’s best chance came in the 14th minute, when senior midfielder and leading scorer Ethan Lustig dribbled past multiple defenders to create a clean shot at Romano, but struck his shot right at the sophomore goalkeeper, who handled the shot and covered up in his box.

Through the first 55-plus minutes, Lustig’s individual effort to create that first-half shot was the only thing close to a goal created by either team. In the 57th, Freehold Township found a soft spot in the Manalapan defense for the first time in the game and it came on a free kick from the outer edge of the 18-yard box on the right side. Senior set-piece ace Gino Castaneda served the ball into the box and Rivera flicked a redirection past Manalapan junior goalkeeper Chase Lee that was headed for the back of the net until Braves senior defender Patrick Hearn jumped in front of the ball and cleared it away just before it crossed the end-line.

Closest call of the day comes in the 57th Gino Castaneda’s free kick finds its way through but Pat Hearn clears it off the Manalapan line to keep Freehold Twp off the board. pic.twitter.com/ppjEBhwp8v

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) October 20, 2025

Fifteen minutes after Rivera nearly gave Freehold Township the lead, he actually delivered them the lead. Senior Caine Massey dribbled out of a crowd on the left side and served the ball to the middle of the box, where Rivera beat his defender and Lee to the spot and headed the ball into the goal.

“My coach was telling me to get in the box and someone is going to whip you a great ball,” Rivera said. “Caine put it in there perfectly and I just happened to be there and finish it.”

Monday’s goal was Rivera’s fifth of the season and second of the Shore Conference Tournament. Rivera’s first three goals came against three teams well below the .500 winning percentage mark: Matawan (5-12), Howell (3-13-1) and Monmouth Regional (4-13-1). His last two, however, have been game-winning goals late in the second half to beat both Brick Memorial and Manalapan in the Shore Conference Tournament.

“He just finds himself in great positions,” O’Boyle said. “At the beginning of the season, he was coming in as a sub off the bench because I just enjoyed his spark — a kid that fast is bound to cause defenders problems. Now, we’re starting him and he is starting to find his groove. It seems like every game, he always finds a way to either find himself in the right place for an opportunity or to just create something with his speed getting behind a defender.”

Manalapan spent the final eight minutes on the attack, but could not engineer a quality shot against Romano.

“It’s a team effort,” Lockard said of the team’s shutout effort. “You can’t point to one person. Everybody — our whole eleven and our whole bench — everybody did great today. It’s a dog fight for 80 minutes and everyone came to play.”

When the final whistle blew, Freehold Township’s players and cheering section celebrated the victory as though it meant even more than a typical SCT quarterfinal win — mostly because it does. With its state tournament taken away, Freehold Township treated Monday’s game like it’s sectional final and will keep a similar mentality for the remainder of the SCT.

While there will be no state-tournament run for Freehold Township, the Patriots’ SCT march continues Wednesday against second-seeded Colts Neck at Memorial Field in Neptune thanks to another big-game performance led by the Freehold Township seniors.

“It was devastating, but we still love our coaches,” Lockard said of being excluded from the state tournament. “Through all the ups and downs, they have been there for us and that’s never going to change. Looking at our postseason, we can feel sorry for ourselves and give up or we can keep fighting. That’s all we can really do. Just keep moving forward.”