Shore Sports Insider Week 3 Boys Soccer Top 10
Two weeks into the 2026 Boys Soccer season at the Shore, we are still awaiting the first real upset of the season. Manasquan submitted an early entry by handing Middletown South a 3-0 loss on Saturday, but that was a ranked team beating another ranked team. To this point, an unranked team from the Shore Conference has not beaten a Top 10 opponent yet, which is why the teams in the Top 10 remain unchanged for another week.
Despite the relative stability, there has been a shift in the order of the Top 10 and the teams best positioned to jump into the rankings further solidified themselves last week. With most of the Shore Conference Tournament group stage still yet to be played, expect the upsets to start popping.
1. Christian Brothers Academy (4-1-1, 2-0-0) Last Week: 1
Since settling for a tie and a loss in its first two games, CBA has rattled off four straight wins, including a pair of victories over other teams in the SSI Top 10. The Colts traded goals with Middletown South in the first seven minutes, then pulled away for a 3-1 win on Tuesday of last week. On Saturday, they overcame a 2-0 deficit early in the second half to upend Toms River North, 4-3, on the road. The run of ranked teams continues this week with games against Marlboro and Manalapan in Class A North play.
2. Freehold Township (4-0, 2-0) Last Week: 5
A perfect 4-0 start is part of Freehold Township’s case for the No. 2 ranking, but it is more about which teams the Patriots have beaten to get to 4-0. Three of those first four wins are against ranked opponents (Toms River North, Manasquan and Ocean) and the other win is over Holmdel – a Class A North team that is in the Top 10 conversation most years. Manasquan and Ocean are both one-loss teams that at in Freehold Township’s division and if the Patriots can get past Shore Regional on Monday, most of the heavy-lifting in the A Central schedule will be complete, although Rumson-Fair Haven, Long Branch and Ranney are still capable opponents.
3. Marlboro (1-1-1, 0-0-1) Last Week: 2
With four starters sidelined due to injury, Marlboro battled its way to a draw vs. Manalapan last week to keep itself in the top five. The Mustangs are facing an unforgiving part of the schedule, which continues with a home game vs. CBA to kick off this week, followed by their Shore Conference Tournament group-stage opener vs. Rumson-Fair Haven on Thursday night.
4. Manalapan (2-0-1, 1-0-1) Last Week: 3
After an impressive opening-day win over Colts Neck, Manalapan has had two less exciting results: a tie vs. a short-handed Marlboro squad and a 1-0 win over Middletown North in SCT group play. The defense has remained locked in through three games and that will be the part of the team that carries the Braves on most days. This week throws another major test at the Braves, with a Wednesday showdown vs. No. 1 CBA between a division game at Holmdel and a SCT group game vs. Long Branch.
5. Toms River East (3-0, 2-0) Last Week: 6
At one point on Saturday evening, Toms River East was close to moving to the No. 1 ranking, which might have been a reality had Toms River North upset CBA. At the very least, the Raiders would have been No. 2 behind Freehold Township and at 3-0, they still hold a strong case to be the No. 3 team behind the Patriots. For at least one more week, the Class A North duo of Marlboro and Manalapan stays ahead of the Raiders based on a relatively small sample of games, but Toms River East has been undeniably impressive so far with a convincing win over East Brunswick (1-3) to go with Class A South division wins over Southern and Toms River North.
6. Manasquan (4-1, 1-1) Last Week: 9
The Warriors responded to their first loss of the season – a 4-2 road defeat at Freehold Township – by shutting out the reigning Shore Conference Tournament champion, 3-0. Manasquan’s Saturday thumping of Middletown South marks the second straight year in which the Warriors have beaten the Eagles by multiple goals, with last year’s 4-2 win in Manasquan propelling them to a Class A Central division championship. If Manasquan is to chase down Freehold Township for another division title this season, Monday’s game at Ocean is a must-win.
7. Toms River North (2-3, 1-1) Last Week: 8
The Mariners have two 5-1 wins and three losses to top-five teams by a margin of one goal each. That start to the season is both frustrating and encouraging for Toms River North, which had chances to earn a result against No. 1 CBA, No. 2 Freehold Township and No. 5 Toms River East before falling a goal short. The Class A South division title may be out of reach for the Mariners, but they will be adding Lakewood transfer Abraham Torres to the formation in another week, which will make them an even more dangerous, battle-tested team come tournament time.
8. Colts Neck (2-2, 1-1) Last Week: 7
Losses to Manalapan and Pingry on consecutive days was a humbling way to open the season, but the Cougars have regained their footing with one-sided wins over St. John Vianney and Ranney. Sean Moore has scored six goals in the first four games, which positions him within eight goals of matching the all-time goal-scoring mark in the Shore Conference (94). This will be another relatively tame week for Colts Neck, which takes on Point Pleasant Boro in a non-division game and Brick Friday in SCT group play.
9. Middletown South (2-2, 1-1) Last Week: 4
After routing Holmdel and scoring in the seventh minute of its loss at CBA last week, Middletown South has hit an early-season rut. They went on to lose, 3-1, at CBA, barely got past Neptune in a 2-1 SCT group-play win, then suffered a 3-0 home loss to Manasquan. The Eagles are still learning about this year’s group and they went through a similar phase last year and that turned out just fine. The defending SCT champions will try to get back on track this week against St. John Vianney and Wall.
10. Ocean (3-1, 1-1) Last Week: 10
A pair of undefeated teams are in Ocean’s rearview mirror in pursuit of the last spot in the Top 10, but the Spartans manage to hold onto it for another week. Their only loss is a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Freehold Township, while their wins have been convincing enough: a 5-0 win over Ranney, a 3-1 win at Central and a 1-0 win over Lacey. A visit from Manasquan on Monday will put Ocean’s Top 10 status to the test and, depending on that result, a date with Long Branch to close the week could impact that last spot a week from now.
The Next 10
Howell (4-0, 2-0) – Howell will eventually get a shot at Ocean later this month and will play Freehold Township two days later, but in the meantime, the Rebels continue to make their Top 10 case with a 4-0 start with a 16-2 goal-differential.
Barnegat (4-0, 1-0) – The Bengals are off to a huge start to the season and if they can take care of business against Donovan Catholic and Manchester during the school week, they will take an undefeated record into Toms River East Saturday for a huge SCT group game.
Jackson (3-0-2, 1-0-1) – After a 3-0 start, Jackson settled for a couple of ties against Lacey and Southern, which put the Jaguars in position to win the Class B South division and advance out of SCT group play, albeit with more work to be done.
Southern (1-1-1, 1-1-0) – After a season-opening loss to Toms River East, the Rams have made progress with a win over Brick Memorial and a draw at Jackson. The latter keeps Southern in the mix to advance out of a very difficult Shore Conference Tournament Group 2 pod.
Rumson-Fair Haven (2-1-1, 1-0-1) – A win over Shore Regional and a tight loss to Howell has the Bulldogs hovering around the edges of the Top 10, ready to jump in if they can beat Long Branch and muster an upset this week against Marlboro on Thursday.
Shore (1-1, 0-1) – The Blue Devils had a sleepy opener in a 1-0 loss to Rumson but sprung to life in a 3-1 win over St. John Vianney ahead of a big upcoming week of games vs. Freehold Township and Ranney.
Lacey (2-2-1, 1-0-1) – The Lions kept it close vs. Ocean in a 1-0 loss on Thursday, which suggests they could have enough to get out of the group stage of the SCT. Group games vs. Raritan and Barnegat three days apart will have a major say in how that goes.
Holmdel (1-2, 0-1) – The Hornets have been no match for the two top 10 teams on their early schedules (Middletown South and Freehold Township) and will face off with another one to start the week in Manalapan.
Red Bank Catholic (3-0, 1-0) – The first two wins for RBC were a nice way to open the year, but knocking off Long Branch on Saturday was the eye-opening win the Caseys needed as they look to author a breakthrough 2026 campaign.
Point Pleasant Beach (3-0, 2-0) – The Garnet Gulls have yet to face a team that would seriously test them as a Top 10 candidate, but coming back from a 3-1 deficit to beat Central on the road is an early sign that Point Beach has some killer instinct on its team this season.
