For the first time since July of 2019, the Ocean City Nor'easters were back on the field, and back to their winning ways. The Nor'easters kicked off the club's 24th season with a 3-0 road win over Real Central New Jersey at Mercer County Community College.

Bakary Bagayoko (Cumberland Univ. / The Bronx, NY) scored a pair of goals, including a wonder goal in the 49th minute. Kyle Galloway (Rutgers / Manahawkin, NJ) came off the bench in the second half and added a third goal to put the game away. Goalkeeper Jahmali Waite (UConn / Philadelphia, PA) made three saves to earn the clean sheet in his Ocean City debut. 

"Overall we're happy with the performance," said Nor'easters head coach Alan McCann, who made his debut with the club. "The first half was not good enough and got sloppy at times, but the second half was more like what we would expect from the group with some fantastic goals scored."

With the win, the Nor'easters extended their season opener unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1).

Ocean City got off to a fast start in the 4th minute with a short corner that was taken quickly and crossed into the six-yard box into a mass of players and the ball found its way to the far post where Bagayoko tapped it in to open the scoring.



The second half started similar to the first with Bagayoko curling a beautiful shot into the top corner after four minutes. Theo Quartey set up the goal with a deft pass that allowed Bagayoko to take the shot first time without breaking stride.



Quartey recorded a second assist on third goal splitting the defenders to find Kyle Galloway. After subbing on in the 71st minute, Galloway made an immediate impact firing home the shot to secure the win for the Ocean City  in the 75th minute.



Captain Jahmali Waite made important saves and kept his back line organized to ensure the the clean sheet for the team.

"On the defensive side we're happy with the clean sheet but there's a lot to work on as a full defensive unit still with this talented group," said McCann.

The Nor’easters are back in action on Wednesday, May 19 away to Lehigh Valley United.

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