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Boys' Soccer NJSIAA Tournament Preview

Matt Manley|November 2, 2025|Last Updated November 2, 2025

With the onset of the NJSIAA Tournament, it is always safe to expect a Shore Conference team to play for a non-public state championship and this year is no different. Although, there is one difference: the team that is expected to reach the state final is not the usual suspect.

From 2015 to 2023, the Christian Brothers Academy soccer team was as dependable a postseason team as there was in all of New Jersey. The only thing keeping the Colts out of the NJSIAA Non-Public A championship game during that nine-season span was a golden goal at St. Augustine in 2019 and COVID in 2020, when there was no state final. In every other season during that stretch, CBA won the South Jersey Non-Public A championship while also bringing home overall state championships in 2016, 2018 and 2022.
Last year, a run of nine straight appearances in a sectional final ended with a quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame and now, the Colts enter the state playoffs as a No. 2 seed in a South Jersey Non-Public A bracket loaded with championship-caliber teams. CBA is among the contenders, but will have to beat at least two others to get back to the state final.

Even if CBA — or a resurgent St. John Vianney team seeded sixth in the bracket — can not represent the Shore in the Non-Public A final, there is still an even likelier representative in Non-Public B.
Ranney lapped the South Jersey Non-Public B field in power points and heads into the state playoffs as the No. 1 seed in its section for the first time in program history. The Panthers are hoping to parlay that first into their first ever sectional championship.

With Ranney well-positioned to make the Non-Public B final, a return to form from CBA or a Cinderella run fro SJV would likely mean the Shore is playing for Non-Public A and B titles on the same day for the second time in four seasons.

CBA senior Devon Cale. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com) - CBA Devon Cale
CBA senior Devon Cale. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
South Jersey Non-Public A
Shore Teams in the Field: No. 2 CBA, No. 6 St. John Vianney, No. 10 Red Bank Catholic
Top Seed: Pingry
Defending Champion: Pingry
Favorite: Pingry. The Big Blue broke through last year for its first sectional title in 10 years in 2024 and took North Jersey powerhouse St. Benedict’s to overtime before ultimately falling in the Non-Public A final. Pingry graduated last year’s top scorer, Neil Riener, but returned most of last year’s production this season and have rumbled to a 15-2 record heading into the state playoffs. That record is actually topped by three teams in the field: No. 2 St. Augustine (17-2-1), No. 4 St. Joseph Metuchen (17-0) and No. 5 Notre Dame (17-1-2). With so much talent back from a championship team and the kind of schedule that prepares a team for the state tournament gauntlet, Pingry is the most sensible pick as the favorite, but the Big Blue will have plenty of competition.
Dark Horse: No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas. After dropping its season-opener to Voorhees, 5-1, St. Thomas Aquinas went on to lose eight more times and six of those losses were by a margin of one goal. The only exceptions among those eight losses were 3-1 to Scotch Plains-Fanwood (14-2-2) and Seton Hall Prep (12-4-1). Goals have not come easy for the Trojans, who have only scored three goals once this season – in a 3-1 win over Edison (5-12-1) and will have to get by a pair of Shore Conference teams in Red Bank Catholic and CBA to reach the sectional semifinals.
With 11 wins, St. John Vianney would not be as much of a surprise as a semifinalist compared to St. Thomas Aquinas, but the Lancers would assume the underdog role against any of the top five seeds in the field. SJV rolls into the first round vs. Union Catholic having won nine of its last 11 games, including a 7-1 win over that same Union Catholic side. Prior to the 9-2 run, SJV tied Shore Conference Tournament champion Middletown South, 0-0, to kick off this recent run, which ended with consecutive 2-1 wins over Central, Rumson-Fair Haven and Holmdel.
Red Bank Catholic is set up to make a leap forward next year, but this year has already represented progress for the Caseys. A win in the first round would cap a successful season for RBC, which is slated to return most of the program next season.
Bracket Breakdown: South Jersey Non-Public A features five teams that are in the midst of special seasons. At 13-2-4, CBA has the worst record of the five teams while also boasting a decorated recent history in the state playoffs. Last year was the first year CBA failed to reach the sectional final since 2013 and to start a new run of sectional final appearances, the Colts could very well have to get through a 17-win St. Augustine team. CBA is hoping for redemption after losing to Middletown South, 2-1, in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals on two first-half, corner-kick goals.
On the other side of the bracket, the Notre Dame-vs.-St. Joe’s game is a sectional-final caliber match in the sectional quarterfinal, with both teams winning their respective county championships over the weekend. The winner of that game will get its shot at Pingry, which creates the possibility of a loaded final four.
Prediction: Pingry over CBA. A season ago, CBA was picked off by Notre Dame in the sectional quarterfinals and is motivated to reclaim its spot as the top team in South Jersey. The Colts have not played a road state tournament game since losing at St. Augustine in the 2019 South Non-Public A final and if the bracket follows the seeding, CBA will test their road aptitude at one of New Jersey’s best soccer settings.
St. John Vianey senior Luke Noble. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com) - SJV Luke Noble
St. John Vianney senior Luke Noble. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
South Jersey Non-Public B
Shore Teams in the Field: No. 1 Ranney, No. 10 St. Rose
Top Seed: Ranney
Defending Champion: No. 11 Moorestown Friends
Favorite: Ranney. Not only did Ranney lap the rest of the South Jersey Non-Public B field in power points; the Panthers are one of only two teams in the bracket with a winning record heading into tournament play and the other is 8-7-2 (No. 3 Doane Academy). While Ranney played in a Class B Central division that was not on its level, the Panthers were challenged plenty outside the division and still sport a solid 11-6-1 record heading into the state playoffs. Ranney has reached a sectional final once in its program history and has never won a sectional championship, so this has the makings of a special November for coach Donny Gray and his club.
Dark Horse: Moorestown Friends. The Foxes head into the state tournament with an unsightly record of 2-14-1, but they are also a two-time defending sectional champion that has played a challenging schedule full of teams better than the ones they will have to beat in South Non-Public B. They are also on the side of the bracket opposite Ranney, which gives Moorestown Friends a fighting chance against teams like Doane and No. 2 Princeton Day – the latter of which Moorestown Friends beat in last year’s sectional final.
St. Rose has struggled this season, but that was playing in a competitive Class B North division of the Shore Conference. In this section, the Purple Roses are capable of winning a game and with a good effort, they could give Princeton Day a serious challenge should that be the quarterfinal match.
Bracket Breakdown: With No. 4 Wildwood Catholic and No. 5 St. Joseph Hammonton both well under .500 against solid-but-not-spectacular schedules, Ranney should roll to the sectional final from the top end of the bracket. The Panthers have a balanced formation and have challenged themselves enough this season that neither of those potential semifinal opponents are likely to cause them problems.
The bottom-half of the bracket carries more intrigue, with Doane looking to make its deepest run ever and Princeton Day again prepared to make a deep run after taking its lumps against a tough Mercer County schedule. Moorestown Friends is a likelier double-digit darling than St. Rose is, but the Purple Roses typically make some noise in this tournament. No. 6 Holy Spirit and No. 7 Bishop Eustace have profiles similar to Wildwood Catholic and St. Joseph Hammonton, but not surefire favorite like Ranney to go through before the championship round. For that reason, neither of those two can be ruled out as a potential finalist. In short, Ranney should be in the final and its opponent is anyone’s guess.
Prediction: Ranney over Princeton Day. This would mark the second time in five years that the two Panthers tangled in the South B sectional final. Princeton Day won the last match back in 2021, but this time, Ranney should have the upper hand after proving itself throughout the regular season and earning homefield advantage throughout the sectional playoffs.
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