Thurs. S.J. boys’ and girls’ roundup: Cherokee wins thriller

Mike Ryan beat the clock, scoring his third goal of the match with two seconds remaining in regulation, as fifth-seeded Cherokee defeated No. 4 seed Toms River North, 3-2, on Thursday in a dramatic and rain-soaked South Jersey Group 4 boys' soccer quarterfinal.

Ryan, a junior forward, scored twice in the first half and then put in the game-winner off a feed from senior midfielder Dave Schlatter.

Next up for the Chiefs is a sectional semifinal at top-seeded Eastern on Monday. The Vikings advanced by outlasting ninth-seeded Clearview, 4-2, in a penalty-kick shoot-out.

On the other side of the South Jersey Group 4 bracket, 10th-seeded Washington Township reached the final four in stunning fashion - besting second-seeded Toms River East by 3-1 on penalty kicks.

Cameron Scotese had the lone goal in regulation for the Minutemen and, after two scoreless overtime periods, goalie Chris Lasoski (nine saves) came up huge in the shoot-out by stopping a penalty kick.

Washington Township will visit third-seeded Shawnee on Monday for a semifinal match.

Central Jersey Group 4. Rancocas Valley took down No. 2 seed Sayreville, with Brandon Trojak netting the deciding goal in a wild penalty-kick shoot-out that finally ended at 7-6.

The teams failed to score in regulation and overtime, as keeper Ryan Sanders turned aside four shots for the seventh-seeded Red Devils.

Postponements. The rest of Thursday's boys' and girls' soccer and field hockey action was postponed due to rain. The matches have been rescheduled for Friday.