Aaron Dennis scores a pair, and Webb makes seven saves to lead Ocean City to a 4-1 road victory. 

Both sides wasted zero time launching offensive attacks in this fast-paced match on the campus of Drew University on Wednesday evening. Each squad tested the opposing keeper from the whistle, and it was the Nor’easters, pressing forward with pace, who notched the first goal. In the 9^th minute, captain Shawn McLaws delivered a dangerous cross that was put away by Aaron Dennis off of a defensive rebound to make it 1-0 Ocean City. Scoring chances presented themselves for both teams in the next twenty minutes, as a NJLP header screamed just wide of Colin Webb’s net off of a 23^rd minute corner kick. Four minutes later, it was an Ocean City shot by Ambry Moss off a corner that was tipped just wide of goal by leaping NJLP keeper TJ Zehner. In the 32^nd minute, Colin Webb came up huge for Ocean City, stonewalling a point-blank shot that left him shaken up, Webb’s third clash with a NJLP player in the first half. In the 37^th minute, Nor’easter midfielder Frank Tweneboa threatened with a low strike that just missed the frame.

Aaron Dennis

Five minutes into the second half, Aaron Dennis capitalized on an Ocean City corner, scoring his second goal of the game which put the Nor’easters up 2-0. In the 59^th minute, for the second time in the past two matches, Jason Plumhoff converted a free kick into a goal, a low rocket of a shot into the side netting for the secoond game in a row. Instead of breaking their opponent’s spirits, the Nor’easters 3-nil advantage motivated Parma, and minutes after OC midfielder Alec Golini entered the game for Shawn McLaws, NJ-LUSO Parma center midfielder Boluwatife Akinyode arched an unreachable shot into the upper ninety. Ocean City held onto their 3-1 lead, thwarting a barrage of NJLP attacks in the match’s final ten minutes. Nor’easters forward Mitch Grotti took his first rip of the season in the 90^th minute but Zehner was there to stop it. In stoppage time, it was an assist from Grotti that sparked Ocean City’s fourth goal of the game, coming off the boot of Ben Maurey, notching his second goal of the season.

The Nor’easters won the match 4-1 with goals from Aaron Dennis (2), Jason Plumhoff, and Ben Maurey. Mitch Grotti added an assist, his first point of the season, to the Ocean City victory. For the second straight game, the Nor’easters defense maintained a second-half lead on the road. Colin Webb had a major role in this game making seven saves in this game, the Nor’easters second-straight PDL Mid-Atlantic Division road victory. Man of the match: Aaron Dennis.