BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA
Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY JEFFGRANIT staff Above, CBA’s Robbie LaRocca slide-tackles Middletown North’s Chad Manzo, as Everett Moore chases down the loose ball during the Colts’ 1-0 Shore Conference Tournament semifinal win in Neptune on Thursday. At left, CBA’s Kris Perez heads the ball up field during the Colt win. After gutting out its 1-0 victory over rival Middletown North in a Shore Conference Tournament semifinal game, the Christian Brothers Academy Colts proved to be too much for defending champ Toms River North in the final.
Head coach Dan Keane’s squad used an excellent defensive effort to knock off the unbeaten Mariners, 2-0, as senior Brian Beaty returned to the lineup after having to sit out the semifinal win over North with a badly sprained ankle, and assisted on both CBA goals.
CBA nearly got on the board in the first half, but senior forward Mike LaRocca’s header hit the crossbar, before another shot from him hit the post. But in the 52nd minute, the Colts finally got on the board when Beaty hit sophomore Mike Razzoli with a pass in the left corner, and the youngster drilled it inside the near post for the 1-0 lead.
Less than two minutes later, Beaty took a rebound off a shot from midfielder Justin Kahle and sent it over to senior Sean Hynes, who calmly knocked it into the left side for the 2-0 lead.
But as it turned out, that second goal was simply insurance, as the CBA defense, spearheaded by sweeper Dan Shemanski, defenders Eric DeSalvo and Alex DeAlmeida, and goalie Mike Giallombardo, shut down the Mariner attack, holding TRN to just three shots on goal en route to Giallombardo’s ninth shutout of the year.
With their sixth title in tow, and the first since 1998, the Colts have now tied Jackson for the most conference titles. They also improved to 5-0-1 in championship games.
Now it’s on to the state tournament, where despite an impressive 15-1-1 mark and the conference title, the Colts enter the Parochial South A tournament as the third seed, behind Notre Dame (Lawrenceville) and St. Augustine (Atlantic County).
As the third seed, the Colts will host sixth-seeded Monsignor Donovan (Toms River) on Friday in the first round, with the victor to get the winner of the game between seventh-seeded St. Joseph (Metuchen) and St. Augustine.
Elsewhere in the Parochial South A bracket, the St. John Vianney Lancers, the fourth seed, will take on fifth-seeded Holy Cross (Delran) tomorrow, with the winner to get Notre Dame on Nov. 9.
The Red Bank Regional boys soccer team entered its state tournament opener on Monday hoping to knock off a talented Middletown South team that up until this point has underachieved a bit this year.
But the Eagles proved to be a determined bunch, winning the North Jersey Section II, Group III first-round game, 3-1, after jumping out to an early 3-0 lead, and holding off the Bucs’ comeback efforts.
RBR (11-10) got a goal from James Doherty and had several other chances on breakaways, but South goalie Sean Mullan brought his “A” game, and made some dazzling saves to preserve the lead.
As a result, the Eagles move on to face top-seeded Montgomery (Somerset County) today in the second round.
The remaining local boys soccer teams in state tournament play were scheduled to play their first-round games on Tuesday.
Both Ocean Township and Long Branch entered the Central Jersey Group III bracket as long shots, but were hoping to prove the old adage that “anything is possible in the playoffs.”
Ocean received the eighth seed and was set to host ninth-seeded Hopewell Valley on Tuesday, with the winner to get top-seeded Wall Township tomorrow
As for Long Branch, they got the 10th seed and traveled to West Windsor North, to face the seventh-seeded Knights in the opener. The winner of that game will travel to Hightstown tomorrow to face the second-seeded Rams.
The Rumson-Fair Haven boys got the third-seed in the Central Jersey Group II tournament, but with 14 teams qualifying, did not enjoy the luxury of a first-round bye. Instead, the Bulldogs hosted a dangerous Middlesex team, the 14th seed.
CJ Group II is one of the few brackets in the state where the third seed did not receive a first-round bye; however, Rumson was looking forward to starting its postseason run nonetheless. With a win Tuesday, the Bulldogs would get the winner of the JFK-Iselin/Bordentown first-round game tomorrow.
The Shore Regional Blue Devils got the fourth seed in CJ Group II, and faced off with 13th-seeded Burlington Township on Tuesday. The Blue Devils are another team that has been pointing to this postseason as their chance to distinguish themselves as a championship-caliber team.
With a win on Tuesday, Shore would get the winner of the Delaware Valley (fifth seed)-Matawan (13th) game tomorrow.