The Westchester Flames (5-2-1, 16 pts.) pulled into a tie for second place in the Northeast Division with the Ocean City Barons (4-2-4, 16 pts.) after defeating them 2-1 on Saturday night in New Rochelle, NY. It was the first time the Barons have lost back-to-back games since the 2005 season, and it was only the fourth time in club history that they’ve lost two games in a row. The Westchester Flames (5-2-1, 16 pts.) pulled into a tie for second place in the Northeast Division with the Ocean City Barons (4-2-4, 16 pts.) after defeating them 2-1 on Saturday night in New Rochelle, NY.

It was the first time the Barons have lost back-to-back games since the 2005 season, and it was only the fourth time in club history that they’ve lost two games in a row.

The Flames scored first in the 33rd minute with Michael Konicoff putting the hosts in front on an assist from Sam Bailey. Bailey dribbled past Billy Pinto on the left wing, cut back and played a nice ball into the box for Konicoff for his first goal of the season.

Seven minutes later, Konicoff returned the favor. After a poor defensive clearance by the Barons’ backline, Konicoff collected it about 30 yards from goal, dribbled into the box and found Bailey who made it 2-0.

Ryan Richter and Jeremy Ortiz came on to add some offensive punch at halftime, and the team responded right away. In the 48th minute, Adam Williamson sent one of his trademark corner kicks into the box. The ball took a deflection off a Westchester defender and it fell to the feet of Byron Carmichael, who scored his fifth goal of the season.

"We played a really nice second half," said Barons head coach Mike Pellegrino. "We limited their chances, we created more quality shots, but we just couldn’t find the tying goal."

The game finished 2-1, spoiling the debut of the newest Barons goalkeeper, Dylan Lawrence, who comes to the club from Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina. He joins two of his college teammates, Lee Squires and Dale Parker. Lawrence made six saves in his first appearance for the club on Saturday night.

The Barons and Flames both trail the Fredericksburg Gunners by two points for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. The Mid-Atlantic, New England and Northeast Division winners all qualify for the post-season, along with the best second place team among those three groups. The Barons and Flames are four points behind the Brooklyn Knights, the Northeast Division leader.

Ocean City will attempt to avoid the first three-game losing streak in club history when they travel to North Jersey to take on the Newark Ironbound Express for the third and final time this Wednesday. In their first two matchups, Newark held Ocean City to a 1-1 draw, and then beat them in the second game 4-0. Kick-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.