The Ocean City Nor'easters are excited to announce the returning players for the 2024 USL League Two season. Eight players, seven of which were part of last year's Mid-Atlantic Division championship team, are coming back to the Beach House to help Ocean City try to win a league championship.

Among the returning players are a former USL-2 Golden Glove winner, last year's Breakthrough Player of the Year, last year's Young Player of the Year, and a player who was a Major League Soccer draft pick.

"It’s always positive when have you have players return from the previous year," said Nor'easters sporting director Kevin Nuss. "It allows us to build on the success of the last couple seasons and strengthen the culture that has made this club successful."

Here are the returning players (in alphabetical order):

Shane Clancy (Jacksonville Univ. / Sicklerville, NJ)

This New Jersey native took a long trip down I-95 to play his college ball at Jacksonville University. The St. Augustine Prep grad from Sicklerville started 11 of the 12 games he played in during his freshman season in 2022 and scored his first collegiate goal in the first game of his career (and the team's first game of the season) against Detroit Mercy and was named to the conference All-Freshman Team. Last season, he battled injuries and played in just 10 games (starting six).

The 6’2 defender was part of a strong Nor’easters backline, primarily coming off the bench last season, playing in six regular season games, and playing in all three playoff games.

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Josh Jones (Louisville / Hatfield, PA)

Jones traveled from a small town north of Philadelphia to Kentucky to play for ACC powerhouse Louisville. In his first season with the Cardinals, Jones immediately earned a starting job (16 starts in 18 games) and scored two goals and added an assist. In 2022, he was one of two Cardinals to start every game of the season and lead the team in minutes played. Jones scored three goals and had an assist as he helped the Cardinals reach the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row.

Last year, Jones earned All-ACC honors, adding three goals and two assists. He also was named to the All-ACC Academic Team. The Cardinals made the NCAA tournament again, scoring a goal and adding an assist in a 4-3 opening round win over Dayton (Louisville would fall to No. 5 West Virginia, 1-0).

After his junior season, Jones was drafted by Real Salt Lake in the Second Round (47th overall) of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. However, he decided to return to Louisville to finish his degree. Jones will finish his senior year this fall and then will join RSL ahead of the 2025 Major League Soccer season.

Before joining the Nor’easters last season, Jones suited up for the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals and was voted the 2022 NPSL Young Player of the Season by TopDrawerSoccer.com.

For the Nor’easters last summer, Jones played in 10 regular season games (9 starts), helping the team earn four clean sheets and started the first two playoff games (both victories on the road against Long Island Rough Riders and the Hudson Valley Hammers). He scored two goals for Ocean City. The first coming in the regular season on the road against the Philadelphia Lone Star FC on June 21 in a 4-1 win. Then, he scored the opening goal in the Storm’s 2-1 playoff road win against Long Island on July 21.

Maruki Kawahara (Nebraska-Omaha / Tochigi, Japan)

Kawahara has been one of the most well-traveled players on the Nor'easters' roster. A native of Tochigi, Japan, he began his college career at Iowa Western Community College. He led the Reivers to the NJCAA championship game in 2020, and then Iowa Western took the next step and won the national title in 2021. He transferred to the University of Akron where his versatility was on full display for a program that is always in contention for a national title. He played six different positions for the Zips, including both backs, both wings, and Nos. 6 and 8. He was also selected as one of the Keystone Conference's best eleven players as an attacking player in the 2022 summer league.

He transferred to the University of Nebraska - Omaha where he finished his college career by starting 13 of the 16 games he played in, while adding two assists and helping the Mavericks to a record-breaking season. They won the Summit League Tournament for the first time since 2017 and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament. They would suffer a narrow 1-0 loss to Missouri State in the first round.

In Kawahara’s first season with Ocean City last summer, as he was one of the most reliable players in the midfield. He started 10 of the 12 games he played in, including starting all three playoff games.

Andrew Kitch (North Carolina / Medford, NJ)

 

Kitch was a top recruit after an impressive career at Shawnee High School and playing club ball for Real Jersey Football Club. He won the US Youth Soccer National Championship in 2019 and 2021. Kitch was also named to the Best XI at the national tournament four times (2017-19, 2021). He also won the Olympic Conference Player of the Year in 2021. With all of his accomplishments, the Medford, NJ native got the attention of the Tar Heels and he ultimately chose to play for the University of North Carolina. Kitch redshirted his first season at Chapel Hill, as UNC reached the Final of the ACC tournament and advanced to the Quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.

Kitch comes from a strong soccer family. His father played college soccer and his older brother Owen plays at Stockton University. His twin brother Charlie, who also signed on to play for Ocean City this summer, plays at St. John's.

Last summer with the Nor’easters Kitch was named the team’s Young Player of the Year as he scored two goals in nine regular season games, in addition to two playoff game appearances. Both goals were game-winners against Lehigh Valley United (May 24) and the Philadelphia Lone Star FC (May 26).  

Felix Schafer (Univ. of South Florida / Berlin, Germany)

One of the most consistent traditions over the last 26 seasons with the Nor'easters is the talented goalkeepers who have played at the Beach House. With all the future pros who have started in goal for Ocean City, Felix Schafer did something none of them have ever done. He was named the 2022 USL League Two Golden Glove winner as the top goalkeeper in the league. The award is based on statistics like goals allowed and save percentage. It was a historic year for Schafer who broke the single-season club record for goals against average with a 0.55. He just barely edged out Pat Hannigan’s 2004 mark of 0.56. Schafer was a big reason why the Nor’easters finished with the club’s first undefeated regular season since 2004. He finished the regular season with a 10-0-2 record and five clean sheets, which is one shy of the club record set in 2007 (Adam Edwards). He helped Ocean City close out the unbeaten regular season strong with four straight clean sheets (3-0-1). The clear cut choice for the Nor’easters’ Defensive Player of the Year award, Schafer was also a finalist for the USL-2 Player of the Year award. He won the fan vote, but would fall short in the overall voting.

Last summer, Schafer was only with the Nor’easters for a short time. He started the season opener on the road against Real Central New Jersey and with a 1-0 shutout win, he extended his personal shutout streak to a club-record 499 minutes dating back to the 2022 campaign. It would be the only game he would play last season as his college team, Santa Clara went on a tour of the United Kingdom. Schafer enters the 2024 season with a 0.50 career goals against average, which is the lowest in club history.

After starting his college career at Grand View University, Schafer transferred to Santa Clara. In his first season with the Broncos, Schafer earned the starting job and finished with a 1.36 goals against average and earned four clean sheets in 12 games. Last season, he split time with Jack Stoecker as SCU finished with a 7-7-3 record. Schafer will be graduating from Santa Clara this spring and then will be transferring to the University of South Florida this fall to get his masters degree.

Colin Veltri (Elon Univ. / Mays Landing, NJ)

South Jersey native Colin Veltri comes from a strong soccer family, his brothers Matthew and Justin both played college soccer at Rider University and Matthew went on to play professionally in Spain after graduating. Colin was a standout player at Oakcrest High School where he played multiple sports. He got the attention of scouts after his junior season when he scored 12 goals and had 20 assists (ranked second in the state). After playing for multiple ODP teams, winning a US Youth Soccer national championship at the Under-17 level and racking up plenty of awards, he enrolled at St. John’s University. He played in 10 games (started three) for the Red Storm in his freshman campaign in 2022. Then, last season, he increased to 13 games (four starts) along with two assists. Veltri has a new home now. He enrolled this spring at Elon University and will play there in the fall.

Last summer with Ocean City, Veltri was named the team’s Breakthrough Player of the Year. As the season progressed, so did Veltri’s playing time. He ended up with nine regular season games played, including starting three of the last four. By the time the playoffs rolled around, Veltri was one of the team’s key players, starting and playing every minute of the first and third games and coming off the bench on a short turnaround in game two. Veltri’s long lone assist on the season came on June 27 when he sparked a late comeback on the road against West Chester United where they overcame a two-goal deficit and extended the team’s record unbeaten streak with a 2-2 draw.

Arthur Widiez (Florida Atlantic / Eze, France)

The Nor’easters lone Frenchman comes to Ocean City from Florida Atlantic. After starting his college career at Oakland University (Metro Detroit) where he spent two seasons before transferring to Florida Atlantic (Boca Raton, Fla.). In 2022, he made an instant impact, starting all but one game and was third on the team in minutes played. Last season, he scored his first career goal in the AAC tournament and was named to the AAC All-Tournament team. He played in 17 games (started 14)

Prior to coming to the United States, he played for AS Monaco’s youth academy for seven years where he had the opportunity to play against some of the biggest clubs in the world, like Paris Saint-Germain and PSV Eindhoven.