First-place Nor'easters finish scoreless at RCNJ as team hits midway point of season
Stefano Camerlengo earns 3rd clean sheet as Ocean City extends record unbeaten streak to 22 games
The Ocean City Nor’easters were held to a scoreless draw on the road against Real Central New Jersey on Wednesday night.
With the draw, Ocean City remains undefeated and in first place in the Mid-Atlantic Division with a 5-0-2 record. With West Chester United and Reading United finishing with a 2-2 draw, the Nor’easters maintain their six-point lead over second place West Chester. (WCU has played one fewer game)
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: Ocean City Nor'easters at Real Central New Jersey
RCNJ is 2-3-2 at the midpoint of the season, and are tied with Reading for third place in the division.
"We've put ourselves in a good spot halfway through the season to control our own destiny and that's all you can ask for," said Nor'easters head coach Matt Perrella. "So, the rest is up to us to continue to find our form and try to win as many matches as we can."
Nor’easters goalkeeper Stefano Camerlengo (Missouri-KC / Pescara, Italy) earned his third clean sheet of the season. On the other side, RCNJ netminder Lukas Burns (who played for Ocean City last season) made numerous saves to keep his former club without a goal.
Camerlengo and the defense are one of the league's best at the halfway point of the season. Out of all the teams that have played seven games, they are one of three teams that have allowed three or fewer goals.
The Storm extended their club record regular season unbeaten streak to 22 games. The team’s last loss came on July 9, 2021 against West Chester United. The Nor’easters road unbeaten streak (also a club record) has now reached 19 games. The last road loss came on June 15, 2019 at Reading United.
"I think most of the guys would agree that we had the better of the game for long stretches," said Perrella. "We put ourselves in good positions to create goals, we just couldn't hit the back of the net yesterday. And sometimes that's just the way a football match goes. We're disappointed but we're certainly not discouraged. We just have to keep moving forward."
This marked just the 16th time in the club’s 26-year history that Ocean City has had a scoreless draw in league play.
Next up for the Nor’easters, they will play their second-to-last road game of the regular season when they travel to take on Philadelphia Lone Star FC on Wednesday, June 21. The game will take place at Bartram High School in Philadelphia with a 5 p.m. kickoff scheduled. After that game, the Storm will play five of their remaining six games in front of their home fans at the Beach House in Ocean City, America’s Greatest Family Resort. The next home game is scheduled for Saturday, June 24 vs. Reading United AC.