First-round upsets leave 12th-seeded Moorestown a quarterfinal host in South Jersey boys soccer playoffs

Declan Capps put a left-footed shot into the high netting for the lone goal in the first half to lift 12^th-seeded Moorestown past No. 5 Delsea, 1-0, in their South Jersey Group 4 playoff Thursday. Capps picked up a loose ball that was played into the Crusaders' box by Liam Ryan and tipped in his direction by freshman Jack Vernick.

Sebastian Witt made 12 saves for the Quakers to earn the shutout.

The prize for Moorestown's upset win will be a home game. The Quakers earned it when 13th-seeded Cumberland was also an upset winner, 1-0, over Ocean City. Jason Angel scored the lone goal for the Colts, who ended a three-game losing streak.

Shawnee 7, Absegami 1: Top-seeded Shawnee held serve by matching its season high with seven goals in a win over Absegami. Matt Conger and Sean McFadden had two each.

Seneca 3, Deptford 0: Luke Rath scored twice and Jack Guerrera added a goal as the eight-seeded Golden Eagles moved on. Christian Mazza earned the shutout with eight saves. Seneca's quarterfinal opponent will be Shawnee. The teams played to a 1-1 draw on Sep. 13.

Hammonton 7, Highland 0: Carter Bailey scored his 14^th and 15^th goals of the season as the second-seeded Blue Devils moved on.

Clearview 2, Mainland 1: Ethan Young and Ryan Bagin were the goalscorers for the seventh-seeded Pioneers, who'll travel to Hammonton for a quarterfinal game Monday.

Cherry Hill West 4, Timber Creek 0: Drew Graffeo scored a pair of early goals as the third-seeded Lions moved on. Their opponent will be 11th-seeded Lacey, a 1-0 upset winner over Toms River South on the strength of a goal by Connor Noone.

South Jersey Group 4

The top four seeds all moved on in this bracket, and all emphatically. Top-seeded Rancocas Valley posted its third straight shutout, 5-0, against Atlantic City. Eddy Rivera scored twice for the Red Devils, who got a goal and an assist from Donovan Wallace. Rancocas Valley's quarterfinal opponent will be ninth-seeded Southern, a 5-1 winner over eighth-seeded Gloucester Tech.

Cherokee 6, Camden Tech 0: Miguel Graterol scored three times as Cherokee put in six first-half goals to move into the quarters. Dylan Pino added a goal and an assist.

Cherry Hill East 2, Eastern 0: The Cougars advanced behind goals by Trey Shaw and Alec Herring. Tom Piotrowski made eight saves to earn the shutout, his eighth of the season. East will face Cherokee in the quarterfinal round.

Washington Township 5, Vineland 0: Nick Guzak scored twice for the Minutemen, who jumped on top with four goals in the first half. Savien Castro contributed his 12^th goal and his fifth assist of the season.

The next opponent for the Minutemen will be three-time defending sectional champ and sixth seed Toms River North, a 2-1 winner over Toms River East.

Egg Harbor Township 6, Central Regional 0: A hat trick by Nathan Biersbach led a six-goal explosion by the Eagles, who matched their season high with that output. Egg Harbor's quarterfinal opponent will be Kingsway, a 1-0 winner over Millville.

Martin's goal lifts Kingsway into SJ4 quarters

South Jersey Group 1

Landon Moroney scored twice and Eammon Sheehan added a pair as Haddon Township cruised into the quarterfinal round with a 7-0 thumping of Wildwood. The Coaches Tournament champions have won seven straight home playoff games, going back to 2019.

Gateway 1, Schalick 1: The Gators needed a penalty shootout to get into the quarterfinal round, but they passed that test in style, by burying all five of their attempts. Eli Mercado scored the regulation goal for Gateway. Lance Creighton tied the game for Schalick. Gateway will travel to Haddon Township Monday.

Riverside 3, Woodstown 0: Aappo Thessler, Gustavo Bonfim and Christian Morales scored second-half goals for the fifth-seeded Rams, who improved to 14-3. Anthony Stillwagon earned the shutout, with 11 saves.

Palmyra 0, Woodstown 0: The fourth-seeded Panthers needed a shootout to close out the Thundering Herd and climb to 11-4-2. They'll host Riverside Monday in a quarterfinal.

Penns Grove 5, Clayton 0: A hat trick by Vicente Bonola boosted the third-seeded Red Devils, now 13-3-1. Angel Marquez and Jacob Marquez also scored for Penns Grove.

Buena 1, Pitman 0: The 11th-seeded Chiefs got a first-half goal from Jake Harris and made it stand up. Geoff Blasberg made eight saves to get the shutout. Buena will travel to Penns Grove for a semifinal game.

Glassboro 1, Burlington City 0: Gavin Dillard converted Atakan Ozdemir's pass into an overtime winner as the second-seeded Bulldogs survived a scare. Marcus Brown earned the clean sheet with three saves.

Audubon 3, Pennsville 0: Kaine Ugonna-Ufere scored twice for the seventh-seeded Green Wave, who posted their seventh consecutive shutout as Trent Bantle made four saves. Audubon will be on the road at Glassboro for the quarterfinals.

South Jersey Group 2

A penalty shootout brought an early end to Middle Township's 2022 campaign as 12th-seeded Cedar Creek moved on after a scoreless tie. The Pirates were 5-8-5 in the regular season, while the Panthers qualified for the South Jersey Coaches Tournament and had a brief stay at the top of the South Jersey Mean 15. But Cedar Creek buried all five of its penalty chances to move on.

Willingboro 3, Lower Cape May 1: Franklyn Karngbaye scored all three goals as fourth-seeded Willingboro moved into the quarterfinals. The Chimeras have won 11 of their last 12 games. They'll host Cedar Creek on Monday.

West Deptford 4, Barnegat 0: The top-seeded Eagles took care of the business early, as all four goals came in the first half and all four came from Mason Quinton. Josh Owen earned the shutout with just two saves.

Sterling 3, Manchester Township 1: Josh Moreland scored twice and Victor John added a goal for the eighth-seeded Silver Knights, who took command of a tie game with a pair of second-half goals. Sterling will face Colonial Liberty-rival West Deptford in the next round. The Eagles won their regular-season meeting, 3-2.

Haddonfield 1, Lindenwold 0: Joseph Nugent scored the only goal of the game in the second half as the third-seeded Bulldogs moved on. Brady Norton made four saves to earn the shutout.

Delran 4, Oakcrest 1: Willyam Viega scored twice in the second half as the sixth-seeded Bears took the lead. Delran took the lead with a goal by Gabriel Moura after just 49 seconds, but the Falcons were level by intermission. Drew Roskos scored the last one for the Bears. He has 13 career goals in seven playoff games. Delran will travel to Haddonfield for a quarterfinal on Monday.

Pleasantville 3, Haddon Heights 2: Samson St. Vilus scored to send the game to overtime, and scored again to win it, as the seventh-seeded Panthers moved on. Pertil Tchawool also scored for Pleasantville.

Cinnaminson 6, Collingswood 0: The second-seeded Pirates jumped on top with three first-half goals and improved to 12-3-2. Cinnaminson will host Pleasantville in the quarterfinal round.

Central Jersey Group 1

Derek Tindall scored a hat trick as Florence cruised into the quarterfinal round with a 7-1 win over Henry Hudson. The third-seeded Flashes got four assists from Chris Krall and a goal each from Ryan Boracci, Nick Mennella, Avi Harr and Eddie Smith. Their quarterfinal opponent will be sixth-seeded Manville, an 8-0 winner over Woodbridge Magnet.

Central Jersey Group 2

Julian DeLorenzo scored two early goals as top-seeded Bordentown moved into the quarterfinal round with a 4-1 win over East Brunswick Magnet. Jay Beyers and Luke Guire also scored for the Scotties, who'll host eight-seeded Wall, a 2-0 winner over Spotswood, in the quarterfinal round Monday.

Central Jersey Group 3

Westampton Tech was the only South Jersey entrant in this bracket and made an early exit after a 7-2 setback at the hands of second-seeded Hopewell Valley. Kaiden McDougald scored both of the Panthers goals, his first and second of the season.

This article originally appeared on Burlington County Times: Moorestown earns home quarterfinal as upsets muddle Group 3 bracket