One of the best moves Robbinsville High soccer coach Jeff Fisher made this season was moving Nico Matthews from defender to forward for more offense.
Matthews starred in his new role and earned headlines with his 23 goals entering the NJSIAA Group II semifinals.
What few people knew about is the relatively anonymous player who made that change possible.
“We wouldn’t have been able to move Nico up,” Fisher said, “if we didn’t have Justin Schreyer.”
When the senior slid over from left back to center back, RHS was languishing with a 3-6 record. Since the move, Robbinsville went 13-1-1 enroute to its fourth straight sectional championship. The Ravens carried a 16-7-1 mark into their Nov. 18 state semi match with Seneca.
“He’s a spectacular player,” senior midfielder Max Goldberg said. “He got moved to center-back in the middle of the season and he’s done a phenomenal job playing that role.”
It was a role Schreyer was born to play.
Since starting soccer at age 4, he has been a lifetime defender. There was one interruption from age 6 to 8 when his dad/coach made him a goalie for the Hamilton Hawks. It wasn’t good.
“I let that go,” he said with a grin. “It didn’t work out well.”
At Robbinsville, he cracked the starting lineup his junior year at left back, which was not his ideal spot but one he accepted in earnest.
“Coach Fish told me I wasn’t gonna start at all, so to play left back for every minute of every game was a big upgrade,” Schreyer said. “When he moved me (to center-back) it was the same thing as last year. I’ll do what I’m told and I’ll execute as well.”
He did just that, as Robbinsville’s defense was a huge key to another big season. The Ravens allowed just 25 goals in their first 24 games.
“Moving him made a big difference in that he’s very smart position-wise and just having a naturally lefty at that space was big,” Fisher said. “It also let us get our freshman Aarush (Singh) at left back and he’s just been really good for us as a freshman. That locked some things down that our left side of the defense is able to do.”
Schreyer relished the role and the responsibility that came with it.
“I prefer center back, it’s more controlling,” he said. “You can control your defense; you can tell them ‘You need to mark this guy and that guy.’ You can see more of the field than at left back when you’re guarding one man.”
Schreyer’s brother Will, a valuable senior on the 2022 state championship team, began a family tradition of winning. Fisher sees similarities in both that he would love for any player to have.
“The Schreyer name has been a big part of this four-year success we’ve had,” Fisher said. “They’re both some of the toughest kids you’ll meet. I’m pretty sure his brother played with a bone broken in his foot his whole senior year.
“Justin is the same way, he’s banged up, he takes knocks. He’s one of the guys where I’m just like ‘He’s all right, he’s gonna keep playing, he’s not coming out.’”
Justin said Will helped pave the way for his arrival.
“He was a legacy here, it’s the Schreyer legacy like Fish says,” Justin said, adding with a laugh. “He does say I’m the better brother. But it helped out that people knew me from having my brother here. It was a good way to break into the program.”
Schreyer has enhanced the family name with his performance over the past two seasons. Although was hybrid left winger his first two seasons and is one of the Ravens’ better finishers, Fisher felt it was a natural move to put him in the back.
The talent was always there; it was just a matter of knowing how to use it.
“I don’t know if there’s anything he specifically needed to improve,” Fisher said. “A lot of it was just mental with his confidence and knowing he is that good of a player and he belongs playing in these games. Once he had that belief in himself everything else just fell into place.”
What’s refreshing about Schreyer is he just doesn’t run amok on the pitch, trying to slow down opponents with sheer aggressiveness. He understands that playing in the center takes a special IQ. He sees the entire field, knows how to control the defense and sometimes the midfield if teams are pushing up numbers.
One-v-one situations are also tactical with him.
“To be a good defender you gotta know who you’re going up against,” Schreyer said. “You gotta know if you’re playing against someone fast then you drop deeper. If you’re going against someone technical you gotta get up close to them and make sure they can’t get around you and step in when they’re making their move. It’s all about knowing how somebody plays and adjusting to that.”
While he acknowledged that some great defenders watch an opponent’s eyes, “I usually watch their legs. When I see their leg is about to hit the ball, it has to be really close and I make my move once they decide to do a skill.”
Schreyer’s all-around skills and leadership provided Fisher with a comfort level in his young defense, which featured senior goalie Alex Rusk, freshman Singh, sophomore Will Temple and junior Lucas Messinger.
“Justin’s got that mental toughness,” the coach said. “Sometimes people forget about him on the back line because of the other guys we’ve had. But he’s been so important to this team. He’s just rock solid out there.
“He’s tough, he tackles hard, he’s really good on the ball, he’s savvy with his other touches around players. He wants it, he’s willing to completely empty the pail and give everything to the team. As a coach that’s all you can really ask for.”
A refreshing quality in Schreyer is that he doesn’t seek glory. He concedes that high-scoring forwards and goalkeepers get the attention; that’s the nature of the sport. With his blue collar attitude he’s fine just being a lunchpail player who gives an honest effort every game.
“I never really cared about that stuff,” he said. “We have jokes on our team like ‘Who’s gonna get the most stats?’ and ‘Schreyer doesn’t have any goals.’ I don’t care about any of that stuff. At the end of the day it’s our defense holding up the team and keeping us strong. Players like Nico and Chris (Lewis) are getting all the stats. They’re really good players; we love having them on the team and need them to win. But me Will, Arush and Lucas, that’s like our backbone.”
Schreyer pointed to the Ravens 1-0 victory over Holmdel in the Central Jersey Group II semifinals, as a defender’s equivalent to scoring a goal.
“We had a really close goal line clearance,” he said. “Alex hit it, it went off the post and was about to go in. I cleared it. It was exhilarating.”
Off the field, Schreyer is exhilarated by the world of business, which he wants to make his career. He’s a member of Future Business Leaders of America and was proud that Robbinsville’s club won several medals at the state leadership conference in Atlantic City.
“It was super fun,” he said. “It’s hanging out with my friends but also connecting with others and making connections who are gonna be administering in the future.”
As for his immediate future, Schreyer is looking to major in business and play club soccer in college.
“The sport is so much a part of my life, I can’t just give it up,” he said.
With a stellar GPA of 3.8, Schreyer has so far been accepted by St. Joe’s University and is waiting to hear back from a host of other schools.
Wherever he ends up, he will always look back with pride on his high school years, playing for a team that seems to be counted out every year before winning another title.
“Ever since 2022 when we won that state championship they’d say ‘Oh they’re not gonna be that good this year, they’re losing this player or that player,’” Schreyer said. “Every year we proved we’re still a strong team and we’re capable of many great things. We’re doing that again this year.”
Thanks in part to a center-back who’s talent allowed his coach to make all the right moves.