O’Reilly’s late goal sends Manasquan past CBA and into Shore Conference Tournament final

MANASQUAN — Coming off a timeout with 1:21 left in regulation of a tie game in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals, Manasquan drew up a play to get one of its six talented scorers a favorable matchup. As fortune would have it, the ball ended up in the crosse of their 6-foot-5 midfielder committed to the No. 1 college team in the country.

With time winding down in the SCT semifinals, junior middie Jack O’Reilly used a pick to move around a defender, get his hands free and blast a top-shelf rocket that put Manasquan ahead for good. Senior midfielder Matt Schneider added an empty-net goal 20 seconds later and the second-seeded Warriors held on for a thrilling 9-7 win over No. 3 Christian Brothers Academy on Saturday at Pat Barnaba Field.

“That was the play, but it wasn’t necessarily for me,” said O’Reilly, who is committed to Cornell. “We have six guys on the field and they’re all threats to score. We put their defense in a really tough spot and they had to pick and chose who they wanted to take away. I think it was (junior midfielder Lucas) Longo who came in and set a pick, and once I saw my guy couldn’t get over it and I was getting downhill, I was shooting for that left corner.”

“The play was for one of many,” Manasquan head coach John Naslonski said. “Any one of our four middies – Matt Schneider, Jack O’Reilly, Lucas Longo, Dax Klein – we’ll go with any time with 100 percent confidence. Jack happened to get the step and bodied him out. When he brought his stick back I saw the guy coming from behind and was an inch or two from clipping that back check, but Jack let it go just in time.”

O’Reilly’s goal, his second of the game, clinched Manasquan’s second win over its longtime rival this season, adding to its wild 8-7 overtime win over the Colts on April 26. It also served as their measure of revenge after CBA beat them by a goal in last season’s SCT Final.

“I think it means a lot,” O’Reilly said. “My freshman year we lost to Rumson (in the SCT final). Last year we lost to CBA. Seeing how they celebrated and how much it meant to them when they beat us, it’s a great feeling to know we can be in that position.”

Getting back to the top of the mountain will require one final climb when the Warriors play in their third straight SCT final and ninth in program history on Monday afternoon. They’ll take on top-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven at 3 p.m. at Monmouth University after the Bulldogs defeated fourth-seeded Shore Regional, 16-7, to reach their 15th SCT final.

Manasquan has won three SCT titles in program history with the last one coming in 2019. Rumson has the most conference titles (9) in Shore history with it’s most recent title in 2023.

The Warriors (14-2) lead 4-3 at halftime on goals by O’Reilly, Longo, senior attackman Brandon Kunz and sophomore attackman Kieran Schneider, while CBA (11-9) countered with goals by senior midfielder Davis Campbell, sophomore attackman Turner Cooke and senior attackman Carter McGuire. Schneider’s goal with 1:26 left where he sliced above goal line extended and snapped a shot inside the far pipe put Manasquan ahead at the break.

The face-off battle between Manasquan’s Will Conway and CBA’s Nick Mangelli was back-and-forth all game, and the third quarter was Mangelli’s turn to take over. He won all three draws in the third to allow the Colts to take the lead. CBA had the possession advantage in the third and tied the game on a goal by freshman Jackson Chaney at 7:44. With 2:10 left in the third, freshman midfielder Danny Varone gave CBA a 5-4 lead heading to the fourth quarter.

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In the fourth, Conway won the battle at the X with a 5-for-8 performance, and it was his first win that helped set the tone for Manasquan’s comeback. Senior LSM James Cadott picked up the ground ball to secure possession, and eventually the ball made its way into the stick of senior midfielder Kai Donahue. The Warriors’ standout short stick defensive midfielder dodged to his left and scored with a low shot that tied the game 5-5.

Just 45 seconds later and after another Conway face-off win, Kunz, a Lehigh signee, dodged to his right and whipped a sidearm bouncer while absorbing a cross-check up high to give Manasquan a 6-5 lead.

CBA came right back just over two minutes later when sophomore midfielder Christian Fox created just enough room to get off a jumping bounce shot from 13 yards out that found the net and knotted the score at six with 8:17 left.

Once again, Conway won a crucial face-off and, this time the Warriors scored immediately when senior defenseman Parker Harms won the ground ball and went straight to the cage for a goal and a 7-6 Manasquan lead.

“That’s one of my favorite parts of the game,” said Harms, a Villanova signee. “I love pushing transition and I feel like the coaches love it, too. You could definitely feel the momentum.”

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“The funny thing is when he was coming down there I was this close to calling a timeout, and then I realized Parker had the ball,” Naslonski said. “I’m not burning a timeout when he has the ball. The guy is unbelievable off the ground and plays with such determination.”

“To get goals from Kai as our No. 1 D-middie and Parker as our No. 1 pole, that just gave us so much juice as a team,” said senior goalie Pat Loxley, who recorded his 200th career save on the final play of the third quarter.”

CBA continued to answer, however, and the Colts tied the game 7-7 with 3:33 left when senior midfielder Davis Campbell used a pick up top to get free and then spun inside a Manasquan SSDM to score with a perfectly-placed shot low inside the post toward Loxley’s off hand.

Now Manasquan had to dig in once more, and in the final minute, the Warriors pulled ahead to move one stop closer to a conference championship.

“We knew what was at stake and we didn’t want to go home,” Loxley said. “The minutes were shaving off and we had to work for it. Huge goals at the end there. We had to trust in each other that we could get this win.”

On Monday at Monmouth University, two Shore Conference blue bloods will square off for the SCT title. Rumson has been a mainstay in the final with 15 appearances and nine championships in 20 tournaments. Since Manasquan’s resurgence in 2016, the Warriors will be playing in their eighth final in nine years and aiming to win their fourth title.

Last week, Rumson stunned Manasquan in a 10-8 victory that saw the Bulldogs rally from an 8-3 deficit with seven unanswered goals.

“I think this game shows how much willingness we have,” O’Reilly said. “It’s our culture. We’re just tougher than most people. Some would roll over after a loss like that and think now they can’t win it. We got past it and now we’re on to Monday.”

“They’ve been working since March 10, that first day of practice, and making sacrifices,” Naslonski said. “They’re pretty willed. They want it and they want it bad. They still have a bad taste in their mouths from last year, so we’ll see what happens on Monday.”

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