Ocean City dropped their second straight PDL game on Saturday night. A strong effort by the 17 Nor’easters who saw action just wasn’t enough to surpass the Mid-Atlantic Division-leading Jersey Express. 

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Newark, NJ - On the night that the Nor’easters welcomed former Ocean City Baron standout defender Tyler Bellamy back to the roster in Newark, Jersey Express left this hard-fought battle with a 3-nil victory. Bellamy, who most recently played professionally with the Rochester Rhinos, was mixing it up early in this match at both the offensive end, on a 5^th minute corner kick, and defensively, on a foul in the Nor’easters box in the 26^th minute that lead to an Express penalty kick. Ocean City keeper Colin Webb saved the penalty kick taken by Joseph Ovenseri, but before Webb could leap to his feet, Jersey Express midfielder Conor Fitzpatrick smashed the rebound into the back of the net for a 1-0 Express lead. From the 30^th minute on, the Nor’easters created chance after chance, fueled by a defensive build-up that opened up Jason Plumhoff and Zoncher Dennis for goal-scoring opportunities. The best scoring chance came in the 37^th minute when Plumhoff whipped a lethal cross into the box that Zoncher headed inches over the crossbar. Jersey Express scored a deflating, stoppage-time goal on a rocket of a shot from Walter Hines past the outstretched Webb, extending their lead to 2-0 at the half.                                                                                                                                                                                                         

The second half was more of the same from an attacking standpoint, as a frustrated Nor’easters side were unable to capitalize on pinpoint crosses from Plumhoff and Shawn McLaws in the 53^rd and 57^th minutes. Coach Oz made several substitutions to spark the offense and bolster the Ocean City defense in the second half. In the 58^th minute, striker Ben Maurey made way for Machel Baker. Ten minutes later, without a single Nor’easter shot in that time frame, forward Alec Golini came on for midfielder Javoni Simms. The direction of play began to swing more in favor of Ocean City as they searched desperately to get on the board. Nor’easters Yannick Kabala and Birnir Adames entered the match in the 71^st minute for Jidell Roach and Billy McConnell. Captain McLaws, Bellamy, Webb, and the Ocean City back line held strong for most of the final twenty minutes, and Adames failed to connect on a gorgeous through-ball in the 74^th minute, the best late-game scoring opportunity for Ocean City. In the 76^th minute, defender Mitch Lurie made way for forward Glenroy “Junior” Chapman, who wasn’t able to muster a shot on goal in the final fifteen minutes. Colin Webb came up huge yet again in goal, stripping the ball from the feet of Jersey Express’ Marcus Hackett in the 79^th minute. With four minutes to play, Nor’easter David Acuna Camacho left the game due to injury and was replaced by Tyler Hilliard. Adding insult to injury, Jersey Express scored their third goal of the match off the boot of Noah Sadaoui, assisted by Marcus Hackett in the 87^th minute.

Jersey Express won the match 3-0 at home despite valiant efforts from the Nor’easters starting eleven and their PDL-allotted six substitutes. Again, the Ocean City attack fizzled out just when a crucial scoring instinct was needed, and the Nor’easters were shut out on the road. Ocean City drops to 2-2-1 on the season and will look to rebound on the road against Reading United on Friday at 7:00pm. 

Official Match Information ** PDL **   Ocean City Nor'easters   at   Jersey Express   0:3   NJIT Stadium Saturday, June 14, 2014 7:00 pm EDT   Weather: Overcast   Attendance: 89   Summary: 27 Min PK JEX on Ovenseri Pitzpatricl Miss/ Score on Rebound 1:0 45 Min JEX Hines (Lebo) 2:0 80 Min JEX Sadaoui (Hackett) 3:0 Cautions Ejections Referees: Kris Lawra Chris Koll AR1 Patrick O"conell AR2     Ocean City Nor'easters Pos Jer Name Min G A S F M 15 Acuna Camacho, David 86         M 22 Dennis, Zoncher 90     5 1 M 14 Roach, Jidell M 71       1 M 12 Simms, Javoni 68     2   D 4 Bellamy, Tyler 90         D 11 Lurie, Mitchell 75     1   D 18 McConnell, William 71         D 20 McLaws, Shawn 90     1   F 6 Maurey, Benjamin 58     1 1 F 7 Plumhoff, Jason 90     1 1 GK 13 Webb, Colin 90         Substitutes M 3 Adames, Birnis 19         M 16 Kabala, Yannick 19         D 19 Hilliard, Tyler 4         F 9 Baker, Machel 34         F 21 Chapman, Glenroy "Junior" 15         F 23 Golini, Alec 22     1   GK 1 Angoitia, Borja -         Jersey Express Pos Jer Name Min G A S F M 18 Correa, Juan 56     2 2 M 5 Fitzpatrick, Conor 57 1       M 7 Sadaoui, Noah W 90 1   3 1 D 14 Caso, Clint 90         D 11 Hines, Walter S 90 1   1 1 D 2 Lebo, Christopher J 61   1     D 4 Mahoney, Matthew 90         D 21 Morgan, Andrew "Drew" 90       1 D 15 Viaggio, Nicholas "Nick" 90     1 2 F 20 Ovenseri, Joseph 68     1   GK 1 Turner, Matthew 90         Substitutes M 19 Hackett, Marcus 29   1 2   M 10 Martinez, Brayan 35         D 20 David, Lazarof -         D 6 Janneh, Lamin 3         F 9 Johnson, Jakeem M -         F 12 Otto, Ansger F 22     3   GK 1 Greczek, David J -         Ocean City Nor'easters Pos Jer Name GKM GA GKW GKL GKT SO Saves SHFC GK 13 Webb, Colin 90 3   1     7   Substitutes GK 1 Angoitia, Borja -               Jersey Express Pos Jer Name GKM GA GKW GKL GKT SO Saves SHFC GK 1 Turner, Matthew 90 - 1     1 5   Substitutes GK 1 Greczek, David J -                 Team Statistics Goals Half1 Half2 Final Ocean City Nor'easters 0 0 0 Jersey Express 2 1 3 Shots Half1 Half2 Final Ocean City Nor'easters 5 5 10 Jersey Express 2 11 13 Saves Half1 Half2 Final Ocean City Nor'easters 2 5 7 Jersey Express 3 2 5 Fouls Half1 Half2 Final Ocean City Nor'easters 2 2 4 Jersey Express 4 3 7 Offsides Half1 Half2 Final Ocean City Nor'easters 0 0 0 Jersey Express 0 0 0 Corners Half1 Half2 Final Ocean City Nor'easters 4 1 5 Jersey Express 1 4 5