Manalapan knew it had to do something different. After losing to Howell in the Shore Conference Tournament (SCT) final, 1-0, coach John Natoli had to find a way for his soccer team to generate more offense. In two of Manalapan’s three matches with the Rebels, they had been shut out twice with Howell going 2-0-1.
PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Above left: A dejected Eric O’Neill of Howell is consoled after losing to Manalapan in the Central Jersey Group IV sectional final. Above right: Howell’s Kyle Bethel uses his body to fend off Manalapan’s Caner Semen during the game, which Manalapan won by a score of 1-0. Howell finished its season with a 21-3-2 record. “We went with a new formation,” said defender Jeff Weitz. “We felt we didn’t have enough offense so we put an extra guy up front.”
However, despite the new look, it was the Braves’ gamebreaker, George Quintano, who would net the only goal of Friday’s NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV championship game play at Howell.
The 1-0 triumph sent Manalapan to the state semifinal yesterday. Last year on the way to winning the state sectional title, the Braves had delivered the knockout blow to the Rebels. This year’s loss was an even tougher pill to swallow because Howell had beaten Manalapan in the SCT final, something they couldn’t do last year when the Braves eliminated them from both tournaments.
Quintano received a long through ball from Adam Rice that gave him a breakaway to the Howell goal. The Rebels’ keeper, Brian McDonough, came out of the goal to challenge Quintano, whose shot bounced off the diving McDonough. Quintano, with the presence of mind to follow up his shot, was there to tap in the rebound and put Manalapan on top in the 34th minute.
“Adam hit a beautiful ball that I knew was going to skip by the Howell defender,” he said. “I was just looking to take advantage and scored on the rebound.”
Scoring first, Quintano said, was essential to Manalapan’s plans. He said that with two losses and a tie to Howell, it was important to get the lead so that the team could maintain confidence. It also allowed the Braves to play a
more defensive game in the second
half.
The new offensive formation meant that instead of playing a zone defense in the
back, Manalapan’s Weitz had
the duty of marking Howell’s
dangerous Kyle Bethel
“He’s a great player, I didn’t do it on my own,” said Weitz. “It was a team effort.”
As always, goalie Jake Grinkevich was there to save the day. In the 13th minute, Chris Katona took a crossing pass from Bethel and blasted a shot into the wide open near post. But, out of nowhere, the diving Grinkevich was there to push the shot wide.
“Jake has such quick reactions,” noted Weitz.
Grinkevich is unscored upon in Manalapan’s four state tournament matches.
Natoli has said that what has made Manalapan a championship team the last two years had been its camaraderie. He pointed out that the Brave players are friends on and off the field and that they always have each other’s back. They needed all of that trust in the second half as Bethel tried the best he could to get his team on the scoreboard.
But, against Grinkevich and a packed in Braves defense, the Rebels couldn’t finish on their scoring chances and saw a season in which they won a pair of championships (A North and SCT) fall one win short of their goal, the state sectional.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” said the Duke University-bound Bethel. “We had some chances, we just couldn’t put them in.
“We were doing so well,” he added. “We played so well throughout the season, I thought it was our year. At least we won something, but we really wanted the states.”
Howell finished the year at 21-3-2.
Manalapan improved to 19-3-2 and headed back to the state semifinals on a roll while adding to the reputation of being a team that knows how to win the big game.
“Every game we could have lost,” said Quintano of Manalapan’s 4-0 record in the sectionals. “Our defense is playing absolutely solid.”
The Braves took that defense and its playmakers, Quintano and Grinkevich, into the semifinal against South Jersey champion Washington Township Tuesday. The winner will play Friday night for the State Group IV title at the College of New Jersey.
Howell and Manalapan each had to win matches on the road against higher seeds to set up Friday’s final.
The Rebels beat top seed and 2005 champion North Brunswick, 2-1, on Nov. 6 when Cody Calafiore cashed in on a penalty-kick opportunity in the 77th minute.
Bethel continued his red-hot scoring pace getting the Rebels on the scoreboard in the 59th minute heading in a Calafiore corner kick.
Ibrahim Kamara answered Bethel’s score for North Brunswick (19-2), tying the match 1-1 in the 69th minute.
The decisive penalty kick call was the result of Bethel being pulled down inside the box in the 77th minute. Calafiore stepped up and buried his shot in the back of the North Brunswick net, and the Rebels were on to the state sectional final.
Just as Howell’s stars stepped up in its semifinal, so did Manalapan’s in its 1-0 win at No. 3 seed Rancocas Valley (RV).
Quintano scored eight minutes into overtime to avoid the dreaded shootout. He controlled a pass from Brandon Russo and used his acceleration to beat a pair of RV defenders up field and score.
Grinkevich stopped 10 shots in collecting his third straight playoff shutout.
Rancocas Valley concluded its season with a 16-4-1 mark.