The Nor'easters will have another crack at besting their rivals on Friday night, who eked out a 1-0 victory over The Storm in Reading on June 20th, in a must win match for both sides. The first 150 ticket-holders will receive a free, retro Ocean City Barons supporter's scarf. At halftime, Ocean City will induct Byron Carmichael, the club's all-time leader in goals and assists, into the Nor'easters Hall of Fame. 

Friday, July 11, 2014

Ocean City, NJ – The Nor’easters will host Reading United AC on Retro Night this Friday evening at 7pm. Highlighted by an Ocean City Barons supporter’s scarf giveaway to the first 150 ticket-holders, and the induction of Byron Carmichael into the Nor’easters Hall of Fame, this must-win match will sure to excite, pitting two Mid-Atlantic Division foes against each other at Carey Stadium.  

Reading United AC, who currently sit in 2^nd place in the Mid-Atlantic Division with a 7-1-3 record, are searching for their seventh consecutive PDL Playoff appearance. The Philadelphia Union-affiliated United boast more than 30 alumni who have played professionally. Reading won three straight PDL Mid-Atlantic Division titles from 2008-2010 and captured the PDL Eastern Conference Championship in 2010.

The reigning PDL Eastern Conference champion Nor’easters are 7-4-1 with 22 points, just 2 points behind United in the tight Mid-Atlantic Division playoff push. Only 4 points separate the top four teams battling for two playoff spots. Ocean City leads the all-time rivalry 18-12-6 and will look to improve on their gritty performance in Reading on June 20^th that resulted in a 1-nil United victory. Reading outshot Ocean City 10-7 in that battle, with Nor’easter keeper Eric Klenofsky making 5 critical saves. Jason Plumhoff, Zoncher Dennis, Frank Tweneboa, and Shawn McLaws created scoring chances for Ocean City but were unable to find the equalizer in a hard-fought match.

Reading leads the Mid-Atlantic division in goals against, with just 10 through 11 matches this season, so a clinical finish from the more-than-capable Nor’easters will be required to beat the back line and keeper Alex Bono. Besides Bono, key players for United are defender Robert Sagel (5), midfielder Brett Campbell (7) who has two goals and three assists this season, and forward Darius Madison (11) who leads Reading United in goals with 6 this year, and provided the game-winning strike on June 20^th.

Make your way to Carey Stadium early on Friday to receive your retro supporter’s scarf. The gate opens at 6pm and the action kicks off-at 7pm. At halftime, join the Nor’easters as we honor all-time leading scorer Byron Carmichael. The storm is coming!