The Ocean City Barons advanced to the PDL Elite Eight with a 2-1 extra time win over the previous unbeaten Ottawa Fury in the PDL Northeast Division Final.Tyler Bellamy’s ’karate kick’ goal in the 98th minute propelled the Barons to the Quarterfinals where they will face PDL’s Chicago Fire on Friday night in Des Moines, Iowa. The winner will play against the winner of the host Des Moines Menace and the Cary Clarets.

Ocean City Barons 2:1(aet) Ottawa Fury Algonquin College Soccer Complex - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Scoring Summary 7th - Liam Maloney 60th - JT Noone (William Swetra) 98th - Tyler Bellamy Follow the Barons: Twitter | Facebook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barons Lineup	School / Hometown
GK - Tunde Ogunbiyi	Boston College / Gwynedd, PA
DEF - Jamal Neptune	Hofstra / East Windsor, NJ
DEF - John Fletcher	Eckherd College (’09) / Uxbridge, ENG
DEF - Tyler Bellamy	St. Bonaventure / Hammonton, NJ
MID - William Swetra	James Madison / Egg Harbor, NJ
MID - Ryan Richter	LaSalle / Southampton, PA
MID - Leon Brown	Wheeling Jesuit (’04) / Siparia, Trinidad
MID - Rory McCrea	Hofstra / Leeds, England
MID - Neal Melchionni	Lehigh / Marmora, NJ
FWD - JT Noone	Temple / Harrisburg, PA
FWD - Byron Carmichael	Marshall (’03) / Lumberton, NJ
Substitutes
Dwayne Dove	Vermont / Turnersville, NJ
Steve Miller	Colgate / Ivyland, PA
Junior Chapman	LaSalle / Winslow, NJ
Sal Pistone	Stockton College / Blackwood, NJ
Scoring Summary
7th (OTTAWA)	Liam Maloney (Unassisted)
60th (OCEAN CITY)	JT Noone (William Swetra)
98th (OCEAN CITY)	Tyler Bellamy (Unassisted)
Game Stats	OCEAN CITY						OTTAWA
Shots	6						16
Saves	6						1
Fouls	29						18
Offsides	3						4
Corners	3						11

The Ocean City Barons advanced to the PDL Elite Eight with a 2-1 extra time win over the previous unbeaten Ottawa Fury in the PDL Northeast Division Final.

Ocean City Barons 2:1(aet) Ottawa Fury Algonquin College Soccer Complex - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Scoring Summary 7th - Liam Maloney 60th - JT Noone (William Swetra) 98th - Tyler Bellamy Follow the Barons: Twitter | Facebook

 

Tyler Bellamy’s ’karate kick’ goal in the 98th minute propelled the Barons to the Quarterfinals where they will face PDL’s Chicago Fire on Friday night in Des Moines, Iowa. The winner will play against the winner of the host Des Moines Menace and the Cary Clarets.

The Fury entered the game as the PDL’s top defensive team (8 goals allowed in 16 games) and the second best offensive team (48 goals scored in 16 games). At home, they were 7-0-1, and only allowed one goal during those eight games, including a 2-0 win over Ocean City back on June 5.

It was Ottawa who jumped out to the early lead, with a goal from Liam Maloney in the 7th minute. The Fury drove a corner kick deep to the far post, the ball was headed back across goal and after a poor clearance by the Barons defense, the scramble for the ball resulted in Maloney, the clubs second leading scorer, putting the ball into the back of the net.

After Barons goalkeeper Tunde Ogunbiyi made a couple big saves in the opening half to keep Ocean City in the game, it was J.T. Noone who nearly tied the game up before halftime.

Noone and Ryan Richter used some clever combination play that resulted in Richter sending his teammate on a through ball in behind the defense. Noone put the ball past the Ottawa goalkeeper but the linesman called him offside.

Noone would break through again in the 60th minute, this time it would count. On an inswinging free kick from William Swetra from the left wing, Noone leaped up into the air to meet it and tied the game up at 1-1.

The two tough defenses keep the opposing team from scoring with the game ending 1-1, forcing extra time.

Eight minutes into overtime, the Barons would find what would prove to be the game-winner.

Ocean City utilized a long throw from Junior Chapman to launch the ball into the box. John Fletcher flicked the ball back into the mix where it fell to Swetra who took a shot. Swetra’s shot was blocked, but Tyler Bellamy was in the right place at the right time and "karate kicked" (as head coach Neil Holloway described) the ball into the goal to put the Barons up 2-1.

Saturday’s hero Bellamy scored a school-record 68 goals at St. Joseph’s High School, but later converted to defense when he attended St. Bonaventure. 2009 marked his second season with the Barons, after playing in only six games last year. This year, his role has grown and has appeared in 12 games, while starting five of them. Saturday’s goal was his first for Ocean City.

"We have the belief that we can go on to win the championship," said Barons head coach Neil Holloway. "If you can go to Ottawa and win, you can go anywhere and win."

Next up for the Barons is a date with the Chicago Fire of the PDL next Friday in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Fire have been the pride of the PDL since the Barons joined the league in 2003. During that time, the Fire have the best record (86-12-18) by a wide margin (Barons are 4th on that list) and the best home record (46-5-7) (Barons are 2nd on that list). In their nine seasons, they have won their division title seven times.

However, much like the Barons, all of their regular season success has not translated into a PDL championship. Both teams will try to take the next step toward their first title when they meet on Friday night in Iowa.