What a way to celebrate a 25th season!

The Ocean City Nor’easters enjoyed one of the best seasons in club history in 2022, finishing undefeated in the regular season, winning the division and breaking a few records along the way.

Kevin Nuss returned to his home state to coach the Nor’easters, a club that he has spent seven years in a variety of roles from 2011-16 and then returned in 2019 to be the club’s head coach. With 55 of the players he recruited moving on to play professionally (including two league MVPs), there was no question he could put together a talented roster. 2022 would be no exception.

The Nor’easters finished with an 11-0-3 record, the first undefeated regular season since 2004. Ocean City won the Mid-Atlantic Division title for the fourth time and qualified for the USL League Two playoffs for the second year in a row. The Eastern Conference playoffs were loaded with talented teams, as evidenced by the fact that the Storm were an undefeated division winner and only managed a 4-seed in the postseason. The season would end in the opening round with a loss to the Long Island Rough Riders.

Having Ocean City players on the USL League Two Top Prospects list has been an annual occurrence for the last few seasons. In fact, there has been at least one Ocean City player on the list in each of the last five years. This year, there were three: Ben Martino (No. 9), MD Myers (No. 29) and Alessandro Arlotti (No. 39).

Arlotti, who was named the Nor'easters 2022 Team MVP and Offensive Player of the Year, led the team in goals (8) and assists (5) and was among the league leaders in game-winning plays (game-winning goals + assists) with seven. Including the playoffs, Myers was the second-leading scorer on the team with five goals. Martino split time with Felix Schafer during the first half of the season, making three starts while earning a 1.04 GAA and a 1-0-1 record.

There have been dozens of elite goalkeepers who have worn the Nor’easters jersey over the last 25 seasons, with 17 of them moving on to play professionally since 2003. In 2022, Felix Schafer did something none of them have done before: Win the USL League Two Golden Glove Award as the league’s top goalkeeper. He led the league in goals against average with a 0.55, which broke Ocean City’s single-season club record. He totaled five shutouts, one shy of the club record and finished with a 10-0-2 record. He was a finalist for the USL-2 Player of the Year award, but despite winning the fan vote, he fell short of winning a second national award. Schafer was also an easy choice for the Nor'easters Defensive Player of the Year. The most puzzling thing is that despite being a finalist for Player of the Year and winning the Golden Glove, he did not make the All-Conference Team.

Galen Flynn was named the Nor'easters Creative Player of the Year, while Taha Kina was the Breakthrough Player of the Year. Seventeen year old defender Roman Holt was named the team's Young Player of the Year, while Nick Pariano, a runner-up for the team MVP, was the Nor'easter Award winner.

One interesting fact about the Nor’easters this year is that for just the second time in team history, they featured a set of brothers on the senior team. In fact, they had two sets of brothers. Alessandro Arlotti and his brother Gianluca were both regular starters. Alessandro started every game, but Gianluca, a defender started four of the first six games of the season before picking up an injury that kept him out the rest of the season.

Nicolas Cam Orellana and Benjamin Cam Orellana were big contributors as well. Benjamin started 9 of the 11 games he played in, scoring a goal and dishing out three assists. One of those assists was to his brother Nicolas in his dramatic game-winning goal in stoppage time against West Chester United on May 29. Nicolas, who entered the season coming off an injury, was happy to take on the role of super sub. He started just 3 of the 11 games he played in but he racked up 4 goals (T-2nd on team) and 2 assists. Two of those goals and one of those assists were game-winners.

The season actually started early this season as the Nor’easters qualified for the 2022 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, based on their 2021 league performance. Unfortunately, the US Soccer Federation decided to move the start of the US Open Cup to March, which means teams like the Nor’easters, which rely on college players to fill out their roster, would not be able to use active NCAA players. The Storm made the best of a difficult situation and formed a roster full of Nor’easter alums and former and current pros.

They hosted Lansdowne Yonkers FC, the New York-based club that is one of the best amateur teams in the country. Pablo Marques, who was allowed to compete since he played for an NJCAA school, scored an early goal for Ocean City, only to see Lansdowne equalize. The match would eventually go to penalty kicks where Lansdowne would advance, 4-3.

With the exception of Marques, it was a whole new roster when the regular season started on May 21. The game was played at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, a place the Nor’easters temporarily called home back in 2003. The cancelation of two preseason friendlies may have been a missed opportunity for the Storm who played together for the first time in their season opener on the road against Real Central New Jersey. Alessandro Arlotti scored the first goal in the 25th minute, and just like in the Open Cup game, RCNJ equalized shortly after and the game finished 1-1. Ben Martino was the hero in goal, making five saves, including a save on a penalty kick.

The Nor’easters returned to Ocean City for their home opener at Carey Stadium on May 27 when they hosted Philadelphia Lone Star FC, a team that had ended their 15-game unbeaten streak on the same field last year. Ocean City would prevail 2-1 on a 76th minute game-winner by Arlotti. It was the 5th straight home opening win for the Nor’easters and the first of three come-from-behind wins.

Their next home game was a big one less than 48 hours later against last year’s division champs, West Chester United. After West Chester scored in the third minute, Arlotti equalized in the 49th minute. That goal was special for Arlotti because he became the first player in club history to score a goal in each of the first three games of a season. But the headline came deep in second half stoppage time when second half sub Nicolas Cam Orellana scored the game-winning goal.

The first of three matches against bitter rival Reading United AC came next as the Storm traveled north and picked up a 2-0 win. MD Myers scored both goals and Felix Schafer earned the first clean sheet of the season.

On June 8, the Storm had to come from behind again, this time at home against Lehigh Valley United. After United scored in the 65th minute, super sub Nicolas Cam Orellana entered the game and made an immediate impact. He scored the equalizer in the 71st minute and then what would prove to be the game-winner 10 minutes later.

A few days later, the two teams would play again, this time in Bethlehem, Pa., the home of Lehigh Valley United. Daniel Diaz-Bonilla opened the scoring in the first half, only to see United tie the game in the 63rd minute. Arlotti would set up Galen Flynn for the go-ahead goal in the 71st minute and then score one of his own (assisted by Nicolas Cam Orellana) in the 77th minute to earn a 3-1 win.

The Nor’easters would make some history in Reading, Pa. on June 17 when they beat Reading United 1-0 to finish the first half of the season undefeated (6-0-1). For the second game in a row, Daniel Diaz-Bonilla opened the scoring, but that would be the only goal they would need. Felix Schafer made five saves to earn a second clean sheet. The win extended the Storm’s road unbeaten streak to 11 games, which set a new club record. The last time Ocean City lost a road game was on June 15, 2019 at Reading United.

Less than 48 hours later, the Nor’easters celebrated another milestone as they beat Real Central New Jersey 5-2 at the Beach House. Pablo Marques scored a hat trick, while Daniel Diaz-Bonilla and Marco Torino each had a goal and an assist in the win. It was the 100th win at Carey Stadium, making Ocean City the first club in league history to rack up 100 wins at a single venue.

Reading United came to Ocean City for the only time this season on June 24, and were able to hold the Storm to a 1-1 draw. Nick Pariano scored the lone goal for Ocean City in their 55th all-time meeting with Reading, the oldest active rivalry in the entire United Soccer Leagues. The draw extended Ocean City’s unbeaten streak against their rivals to six games, the longest such streak since 2007.
   
In their second meeting of the season, the Nor’easters would come from behind again to beat West Chester United, 2-1. Nick Pariano would score again, this time from the penalty spot, which erased an 18th minute goal from United. Arlotti would come to the rescue again on an assist by Pariano in the 66th minute.

On July 1, the undefeated Nor’easters had a chance to wrap up the division early. All they had to do was beat Real Central New Jersey at home and get some help from another game. Benjamin Cam Orellana took care of the first part, by scoring the only goal of the game while Felix Schafer made four saves to give them the 1-0 win. To clinch the division, the Storm needed Reading United to earn a win or a draw against West Chester United the next day. The game finished tied at 1-1, which gave Ocean City the club’s first division title since 2013.

While a scoreless draw against Philadelphia Lone Star on the road was a disappointing result, it was enough to make history. Schafer made four saves to earn his fourth shutout of the campaign, and the draw extended Kevin Nuss’ personal coaching unbeaten streak in the regular season to 19 games, which broke the club record set by Dan Christian in 2004. It also halted Ocean City’s goalscoring streak at 17 games which ties a club record. The Storm had not been shut out since June 16, 2021 in a scoreless draw at West Chester United. 

The Nor’easters and West Chester United would meet for the third and final time at the Beach House on July 10. Last year, they met four times, so they have seen a lot of each other over the last two seasons. Last year, West Chester eliminated Ocean City from the playoffs, but this year, with a 2-0 win, the Nor’easters delivered a deathblow to United’s hopes of making the playoffs as a wild card. MD Myers scored both goals and Schafer made six saves to earn his fifth shutout.

In the regular season finale, the Nor’easters returned to South Philly to take on Lone Star FC and Alessandro Arlotti stated his case for MVP with the second-fastest hat trick in club history (48’, 59’, 60’), and then assisted on Jeorgio Kocevski’s goal in the 62nd minute. Arlotti's third goal was a stunning volley that won him USL League Two Goal of the Week honors. With the game and the undefeated regular season likely assured, Coach Nuss wanted to give his starting goalkeeper a rest, but not before he broke the club record for goals against average. Schafer would exit the game in the 67th minute, and finish the season with a 0.55 GAA, edging Pat Hannigan’s 2004 record of 0.56.



With a 4-0 road win, the Nor'easters closed out the season with a 432-minute scoreless streak, which is approaching a club record.

The Nor’easters were in select company as they were one of four teams to finish the regular season undefeated, something that has never been done in the history of USL League Two. Just 25 teams in league history have finished the regular season undefeated, and the Nor’easters became just the second club to do it multiple times, joining the Des Moines Menace who have done it four times (2002, 2018, 2019, 2022).

The Nor’easters entered the Eastern Conference playoffs as the No. 4 seed and would meet up with the Long Island Rough Riders (No. 5 seed), the Storm’s second-oldest rival. The game was played at Townbank Stadium in Newport News, Va., the home of Lionsbridge FC. MD Myers would put Ocean City in front in the first half, but things fell apart in the second half with Long Island scoring three goals in the final 20 minutes of the game to eliminate the Nor’easters, 3-1. It would be the first time all season that the Nor’easters allowed more than two goals in a game.

While last year’s team broke offensive records, this year’s team broke defensive records. The nine goals allowed broke the record for fewest goals allowed in a season and shattered the single-season team goals against average record with a 0.64. 

They also tied the club record for the most wins in a 14-game season with 11, and broke the record for most points (36).  

When the dust settled on the Nor’easters’ 25th season, their 19th in USL League Two, they moved up the list of some of the all-time great clubs. They now have the fourth-best overall record (165-70-55) since joining the league in 2003, and the fourth-best home record (91-28-28). And despite joining the league eight years after the league started, the Nor’easters have the fifth-most wins (165) in league history.