Before the first goal was scored or the first save was made, the Freehold Township High School boys soccer team reminded head coach Todd Briggs of his 2008 team.
“There were a lot of similarities,” he said.
The 2014 Patriots had experience (eight seniors and 10 juniors) and depth. Many of the upperclassmen had played together at Freehold Township for three or four years and meshed as a unit. In addition to being a veteran team, the Patriots had an outstanding goaltender in Brian Shushkovsky.
Like the 2008 team, these Patriots had the “ability to possess the ball on the ground and we had athletes in the back and on the wings.”
And, like that 2008 team, these Patriots captured the Shore Conference Tournament (SCT) championship by beating Wall High School, 2-1, in a driving rainstorm on Nov. 1 at Neptune High School’s Memorial Field.
The win made Briggs’ preseason prognosis for the team look prophetic.
“I anticipate this team will play well enough to bring a championship of some kind back to the township,” he said at the time.
His team delivered in November.
It completed a remarkable run by the Patriots from the No. 11 seed to champions. After beating Colts Neck High School in the opening round on penalty kicks after the teams played to a scoreless tie (Shushkovsky made two saves as they won the shootout, 4-2), the Patriots had to go through A North Division co-champions, Christian Brothers Academy, 2-0, in the quarterfinals and Manalapan High School, 1-0, in the semifinals. Manalapan was the defending SCT champion.
Briggs said the gauntlet that is A North soccer prepared his team well for the SCT.
“We never had an off day. We always had to bring our ‘A’ game,” he said.
One thing that Briggs looks for are crossover athletes to help his team. He has basketball players “who can go up and get the ball” in the air and track athletes who bring speed to the wings. The Patriots used both of those talents to the fullest in winning the conference tournament. Of the five goals scored in the SCT, four were headers, including both in the finals against Wall.
Adrian Barajas went up and got a crossing pass from Mike Maltese, heading it into the Wall goal just 18 minutes into the match to stake the Patriots to an early 1-0 lead over the fourth-seeded Crimson Knights.
Just minutes later, Jason Czajkowski headed in a serve from Tim O’Donnell for a 2-0 lead.
Wall scored the first goal on Freehold Township during the tournament in the second half, but it could not get the equalizer. As a result, Shushkovsky and the Patriots defense brought the championship back to Freehold Township.
This is the third SCT title for the program. Freehold Township shared the title in 1987 with Brick Memorial High School (0- 0 tie) and beat Marlboro, 3-1, in 2008.
Manalapan has also won three SCT titles (2000, 2006, 2013). Howell (2007) and Marlboro (2009) have also won the tournament. How strong is A North? Eight of the past nine SCT winners have been from the division.
As comparable as the 2014 Patriots were to the last SCT winners, Briggs didn’t want this team to duplicate the 2008 team’s state playoff performance. It went out in the first round,
That didn’t happen this year, as the Patriots marched into the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV semifinals with a pair of wins last week.
First, Czajkowski’s goal in the 55th minute was all the Patriots needed when the ninth seed won at No. 8-seed West Windsor Plainsboro High School North, 1-0, on Nov. 4.
The win earned the Patriots a trip to No. 1-seed Montgomery High School in the quarterfinals. Shushkovsky and the Patriots defense made one goal stand up again. Chris Hoskins converted a corner kick from Mike Staklinski and scored the only goal of the match on a header in the first half.
Maybe these Patriots are mirroring the 2010 team that won the state sectional championship.
Freehold Township, now 14-5-2, were scheduled to take on fourth-seeded Monroe Township High School on Nov. 10 in Monroe. The Falcons (20-3-1) captured the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship on Nov. 8 by beating St. Joseph High School of Metuchen, 2-1, in the finals.
Manalapan on a roll
Manalapan has come back from its SCT semifinals loss to Freehold Township with a vengeance in the state playoffs. The No. 2 seed in Central Jersey Group IV, the Braves have scored 12 goals in their two wins. They blasted Freehold High School, 7-1, in the opening round and beat Brick Memorial High School, 5-2, in the quarterfinals.
Six different Braves scored in the win over the Colonials, with Ryan Hammer finding the back of the net twice.
Rocky Garretson, C.J. Lockhart, Ayush Mittal, Mitch Volis and Adam Weisberger also scored.
Jack Lemunyon, assisted by Dom Matteo, scored the lone goal for Freehold, which concluded its season at 7-9-4.
Against Brick Memorial, the Braves scored four times in the first half and then coasted. Again, there was offensive balance. Mittal led the way with two goals, while Hammer, Rob Pratka and Volis chipped in with one each.
Equally impressive, all the goals were assisted. Garretson, Hammer, Pratka, Volis and Weisberger each had an assist as the A North Division co-champions improved to 14-3-3 on the season.
On Nov. 10, Manalapan was to host No. 6 seed Hunterdon Central Regional High School in the sectional semifinals.
Hunterdon Central (12-6-3) knocked off the No. 3 seed, South Brunswick High School, 1-0, in the quarterfinals.
The sectional finals are scheduled for Nov. 13 at the higher seed. Could we have Manalapan vs. Freehold Township for a fourth time? The teams a 1-1-1 in their prior three meetings.
Colts Neck (8-9-1) and Marlboro (10-9- 1) were also state qualifiers.
The 11th-seeded Cougars lost to Hunterdon Central, 2-1; and Marlboro, the 13 seed, lost at No. 4-seed Monroe Township, 3-1.
This was a big comeback season for the Mustangs. Since winning the SCT in 2009, Marlboro hadn’t won more than five games in a season. One of the major goals set by head coach Dave Santos was for his team to make the state playoffs with a .500 or better record. It achieved both and did so with four sophomores in the starting lineup. The Mustangs can aim higher in 2015.