NJSIAA Tournament

Sectional Finals

Central Jersey Group III

(2) Ocean 2, (5) Colts Neck 1

Senior Santieno Harding buried a right-footed strike to the lower left side netting with 4:08 left to break a 1-1 tie, beat the Cougars (12-8) and deliver the Spartans (19-3-1) their second sectional championship in four years.

Colts Neck pulled even in the 70th minute when senior Brooks Condon slammed in a follow-up shot after Ocean goalkeeper Max Winters collided with another player and lost the ball.

In the 76th, senior Leonardo Montesinos swung the ball over to Harding, who took a touch to his weaker right side and ripped a shot with his off leg that tucked into the side netting.

Ocean dominated the first 20 minutes of the game and had a 1-0 lead to show for it. Harding popped a cross to the far left post and senior James Schutz headed it down and in for the game's first goal.

Ocean is now unbeaten over its last nine games (8-0-1) and will put that streak on the line in the Group III semifinals Tuesday at Toms River North vs. South Jersey Group III champion Seneca.

 

Central Jersey Group II

(1) Holmdel 4, (14) Shore 0

Junior Jack Giamanco scored two goals in the first half and senior Henry Kiechlen added a goal and an assist to help lead the Hornets (20-0-1) past the Blue Devils (9-14) to complete a dominant run to a second straight Central Jersey Group II championship.

Giamanco opened the scoring in the 25th minute when he tapped in a point-blank shot after Kiechlen headed down a cross by senior Anthony Arena. The junior forward made it 2-0 in the 31st when he ran down a long ball over the top of the defense by Arena and finished low. Just a minute earlier, Giamanco had a goal waved off due to contact with the goalkeeper.

Senior Ryan Fergusen flicked in a header on a long ball from Jack Russo in the 56th to stretch the Holmdel lead to 3-0 and Kiechlen capped the scoring exactly 59 minutes in off a cross from senior Mark McStay.

In its four Central Jersey Group II wins, Holmdel outscored its opponents by a combined total of 27-1, with Shore playing the Hornets closer than any other Holmdel opponent.

 

South Jersey Group IV

(1) Washington Twp. 2, (2) Jackson Memorial 1

Ben Schnaak headed in a Ben Patti corner kick in the 58th minute but the Jaguars (15-3-1) could not overcome a two-goal deficit against the Minutemen (23-1), who won their fifth straight South Jersey Group IV championship.

Arturo Serrano staked Washington to a 1-0 lead with a penalty kick in the 17th minute and Jake Logar stretched the lead to 2-0 by heading in a service from Chad Yates.

Washington will play in the Group IV semifinal on Tuesday at Rowan University against Central Group IV champion East Brunswick, which knocked off two-time defending champion Hunterdon Central on Thursday, 1-0.

 

South Jersey Group III

(4) Seneca 1, (6) Pinelands 0

Eric Pierre redirected a cross by John Meale into the goal in the 35th minute and the Golden Eagles (19-1-3) made it stand up in beating the Wildcats (11-5-1) and clinching the sectional title. Seneca will take on Ocean on Tuesday at Toms River North in the Group III semifinals.

 

South Jersey Group II

(2) Delran 3, (4) Manasquan 0

Three different Delran players - Daniel Strohlein, Chris Hunt and Jayson Vandermark - scored a goal and the Bears (17-5-1) blanked the Warriors (14-7-2) to win their third straight sectional championship and set up a showdown with Holmdel in the Group II semifinals Tuesday night at Hopewell Valley High School.

 

South Jersey Non-Public A

At Washington Twp.

(1) CBA 4, (2) St. Augustine 1

Joe Lozowski scored two second-half goals and Jack Gill fired in a goal and an assist as the Colts (18-4) rolled through through the Hermits (17-5-3) for their fourth straight sectional championship and corresponding trip to the Non-Public A final.

For the second year in a row and the third time in four years, CBA will take on Delbarton in the championship game. Delbarton defeated CBA both times, including last season, 4-1, after conceding an early goal.

Gill opened the scoring Tuesday with a short-distance rip out of a scrum following a corner kick. Lozowski gave the Colts a two-goal cushion when he scored 30 seconds into the second half off a feed from Gill.

After Anthony Matos pulled St. Augustine within 2-1 in the 54th, senior Liam Mulvey answered two minutes later to extend the CBA lead to 3-1. Lozowski closed out the scoring in the 77th with his second goal, this time off a rebound of an initial shot by senior Charlie Daly.

 

South Jersey Non-Public B

At Holmdel

(3) Rutgers Prep 2, (9) St. Rose 1

Jonathon Caputo's goal in the 68th minute highlighted St. Rose's furious comeback attempt, but the effort came up just short against the Argonauts (12-10), who scored twice in the first 15 minutes and hung on to win the first sectional title in program history.

Demetri Zambas scored both Rutgers Prep goals off assists from Griffin Hooper, with the second coming exactly 10 minutes after the first. Zambas volley in a shot off Hooper's corner kick in the fifth minute and headed in Hooper's cross in the 15th.

St. Rose (9-11-2) dominated play in the second half, outshooting the Argonauts 11-0 over the final 40. That finally turned into a Purple Roses goal in the 68th and it started with a 30-yard shot by senior Evan Walters. Rutgers Prep keeper Oscar Vargas saved the shot but the ball hit the ground and senior Matt Forlenza got off a follow up shot. It deflected off Vargas and Caputo pounced on the bouncing ball and tapped it in.

Caputo also got behind the defense twice in the final 10 minutes but could not get the first attempt away cleanly and fired the second one over the crossbar.

Rutgers Prep will play Gill St. Bernard in Sunday's Non-Public B championship game at Kean University at 12:30 p.m.

 

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