Starkly different results up to girls, boys soccer Shore Conference Tournament Final Four

RUMSON - It truly is the tale of two tournaments.

The new "cup" format of qualification for the Shore Conference Tournament have resulted in starkly different outcomes for the boys and girls brackets heading into the semifinal round, with the Howell girls continuing a run from the 13-seed by defeating No. 5 Rumson-Fair Haven 1-0 Monday night.

Howell (9-5) will face an even lower seed - No. 17 Manasquan - in the Final Four on Thursday. Meanwhile on the boys side, the tournament seedings have largely held up.

The Howell-Rumson meeting was the final match of the quarterfinals and it came down to the final seconds as Rumson-Fair Haven sought to avoid the home loss.

But as had been the case the entire game, the passes near the goal just didn't bounce the right away for the Bulldogs and the possession slipped hopelessly away as the Howell players stormed the field to celebrate their victory.

"I think the hard schedule we played prepared us," said Howell head coach Miguel Arroyo. "That we're able to sustain that punch, and then come back and then get one for ourselves."

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Howell opened the season at 3-5 but four of those five losses came against teams seeded 12 or higher in the Shore Conference Tournament, including the top two seeds in Manalapan and defending tournament champ Freehold Township.

Arroyo's team withstood a consistent attack from Rumson-Fair Haven and made the most of its offensive chances on the other end. Less than three minutes into the second half, senior Leila Oshiro pushed the ball into the box and squeezed out a pass as she was tackled by two defenders. Freshman Makenzie Memmolo converted by chipping a shot into the top left corner of the goal.

"I saw the extra touch, took it and blasted it," Memmolo said.

Howell then clung to that narrow lead as the Bulldogs tried to find an equalizer. There was a multitude of threatening possessions but Howell's defense stiffened up where it needed to and secured the win. Still, Arroyo was not thrilled with how dangerous things got at the end for his team.

"I don't think we know how to play with a lead very well," he said. "But we're learning, we're getting better at it."

Girls bracket marred by upsets while boys bracket goes chalk

On the girls side, the final four teams have been almost entirely shaped by various upsets based on the seeding. The qualifying teams are 17-seed Manasquan, 13-seed Howell, seven-seed Middletown South and three-seed Central Regional. But the new format also inadvertently loosened the definition of what an upset is.

Under the new format, teams were sorted into groups of four teams (based on their strength from the past several seasons) and played each other in three games that were dispersed across the regular season of games. A committee then seeded the winners into the top slots of tournament; second-place group finishers were relegated to double-digit seed placements.

Howell epitomized how the new format could create "upset" outcomes. The Rebels were the SCT runner up last year, losing 1-0 to Freehold Township, but a not expected loss to Wall in the second game of the season ultimately ensured they wouldn't win their group.

Middletown South and Manasquan are similar examples. The two teams have nearly identical records at 10-3-1 and 11-3-1, respectively. Manasquan's three losses came against the first, third and sixth seeds in the tournament. Middletown South lost to the top two seeds in addition to a 3-2 loss to Howell.

By contrast, the boys side was nearly chalk as the semifinals features the top three seeds in Christian Brothers Academy, Howell and Toms River North. The other team left is 12-seed Middletown North, who finished 11-4 with losses against each of the aformentioned teams. They were the top-ranked team that didn't win their group in the cup format.

Regardless of the differences, both brackets have produced very compelling matchups in the semifinal round. On Wednesday afternoon in the boys Final Four, Howell will face Toms River North in the 2 vs. 3 matchup. The evening matchup pits top-seed CBA against Middletown North as the Lions will try to avenge their 3-0 defeat back in September. Both games will be played in Neptune at Summerfield Elementary School.

Then on Thursday on the girls side, Howell will host Manasquan in the early game at 4 p.m. as the two underdogs battle for a spot in the title game. Central Regional will host Middletown South in the evening game at 6:30.

Unforced errors doomed Rumson Fair-Haven

Although it was an evenly matched quarterfinal game between two strong programs, Rumson-Fair Haven looked like the better team offensively for most of the game. The Bulldogs were methodical as they maintained possession and work the ball into enemy territory.

"We gave a lot of effort. We had one mistake that Howell capitalized on," said head coach Jeff Herkimer. "We played the full 80 minutes with one little hiccup in there."

But in the second half, possessions slipped away just before they could turn into real chances.

The Bulldogs' talent was on display as they narrowly missed on several occasions. With 15 minutes left in the first half, an ideal corner kick set up a well-executed header that ricocheted off the post. They were similarly able to put shots on target from outside the box, a testament to their skill. But when the Bulldogs worked the ball into the box, it seemed as though indecisiveness got the better of them as they failed to convert.

Even as those possessions slipped away on the offensive end, Rumson-Fair Haven was excellent at slowing down the Howell counter attack. Still, similar lapses at the defensive end also created dangerous chances. Halfway through the first half, the Bulldogs survived a barrage of shots as they were unable to clear the ball defensively. Senior goalkeeper Katie Wells put together a sublime performance as she saved her team from imminent danger, aside from the lone goal early in the second half.

"She's just been a real stalwart back there," said Herkimer. "She's kept us in a lot of games."

The Bulldogs competed relentlessly until the final whistle, but Howell's consistency made the difference in the final result.

Howell primed for potential return to title game

After falling in the Shore Conference Tournament final last year, the Rebels are in a tremendous position to come away with the league title after their main adversaries have all been eliminated.

Freehold Township beat Howell 1-0 in last year's conference championship and then beat the Rebels 4-0 during the regular season, but they've been eliminated. Howell is 1-0 against the other remaining three teams this season as they beat Middletown South 3-2 during the regular season.

But undefeated Central Regional is undoubtedly the favorite to win the tournament. They've amassed a 14-0 record, albeit against a relatively less challenging schedule. They're also 1-0 against the remaining three teams with a decisive 4-1 victory over Manasquan.

Despite that ugly loss in the regular season, Manasquan is not a team to be overlooked after it knocked off top-seeded Manalapan.

"We played them last year, but A North is just a beast," said Arroyo of Howell's next opponent. "There's nothing that any other team out there is going to show us that we haven't seen."

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore Conference Tournament soccer Final Fours set with Howell gbeating Rumson