The Ocean City Barons’ all-time leading scorer Byron Carmichael notched his first career hat trick in only 35 minutes of work on Thursday night, leading the club to a 5-1 victory over the Newark Ironbound Express (6-8-1). The Lumberton, NJ native scored goals number 45, 46 and 47 of his Barons career, but has never scored three goals in a single game, much less a single half. (VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS FROM NBC40 AFTER THE JUMP)

 

Highlights courtesy of NBC40

 

 

Barons Lineup	School / Hometown
GK - Jordan Bar	Fairfield / Centerville, MA
DEF - Jamal Neptune	Hofstra / East Windsor, NJ
DEF - Neal Melchionni	Lehigh / Marmora, NJ
DEF - Jimmy Davis	LaSalle (’09) / Pittsgrove, NJ
DEF - Joe Banks	Drexel (’07) / Sicklerville, NJ
MID - Billy Pinto	Boston College / Pottstown, PA
MID - Kyle Miller	Holy Cross / Woodbury, NJ
MID - Rory McCrea	Hofstra / Leeds, England
MID - William Swetra	James Madison / Egg Harbor, NJ
FWD - J.T. Noone	Temple / Harrisburg, PA
FWD - Ryan Richter	LaSalle / Southampton, PA
Substitutes
Byron Carmichael	Marshall (’03) / Lumberton, NJ
Junior Chapman	LaSalle / Ocean City, NJ
Dan Korenyi	LaSalle / Cinneminson, NJ
Jamal Neptune	Hofstra / East Windsor, NJ
Sal Pistone	Stockton College / Blackwood, NJ
Leon Brown	Wheeling Jesuit (’04) / Sicklerville, NJ
Scoring Summary
52nd (OCEAN CITY)	Neal Melchionni (Unassisted)
56th (OCEAN CITY)	Byron Carmichael (Ryan Richter)
72nd (NEWARK)	Victor Kutynski (Penalty Kick)
75th (OCEAN CITY)	Byron Carmichael (Jordan Bar)
77th (OCEAN CITY)	Byron Carmichael (Ryan Richter)
81st (OCEAN CITY)	Junior Chapman (Unassisted)
Game Stats	OCEAN CITY						NEWARK
Shots	12						9
Saves	8						8
Fouls	7						6
Offsides	8						6
Corners	4						3

The Ocean City Barons’ all-time leading scorer Byron Carmichael notched his first career hat trick in only 35 minutes of work on Thursday night, leading the club to a 5-1 victory over the Newark Ironbound Express (6-8-1). The Lumberton, NJ native scored goals number 45, 46 and 47 of his Barons career, but has never scored three goals in a single game, much less a single half.

 

It was a day for firsts for the Barons at the Tennessee Avenue Soccer Complex. The first home game without rain, Carmichael’s first career hat trick, 17-year old Junior Chapman and 19-year old Neal Melchionni each scored their first career PDL goals, and goalkeeper Jordan Bar makes history as the first Barons keeper to ever assist on a goal.

The Barons have won two in a row and improve to 7-3-1. The win puts them in sole possession of third place in the Northeast Division. The top three teams qualify for the post-season.

Ocean City shuffled their lineup this evening, but despite the changes the players were able to use their ball movement to help control the tempo of the game.
“We’re playing 5 games in 11 days, so it is smart to utilize our strong roster and spread the minutes around,” said Barons head coach Neil Holloway. “After our efforts on Tuesday it was important to rest some players and change things up.”

Rory McCrea and Ryan Richter circled around Express players in attempts to make plays. On one particular play, Richter controlled the ball around an Express defender, eyed up the net, and fired. It was an unlucky shot that hit the net right outside the cage.

The Barons first half of play had missed opportunities and unfinished plays but the second half was quite eventful for the home team.

Quickly into the half, the players were able to make things happen. Neal Melichionni had the first goal on his corner kick. His “banana kick” service swung around into the net in the 52nd minute to put the Barons on top 1-0.

Minutes later, the Barons substituted Byron Carmichael into the game for J.T. Noone. Not more than 20 seconds of play passed by when Carmichael scored his first of three goals. Jordan Bar kicked the ball up field. Ryan Richter cut inside from the left wing and chipped it to Carmichael who easily put it past Newark goalkeeper Chris Duggan, giving the Barons a 2-0 advantage.

“Byron was in the right place at the right time. That is what good strikers do,” Holloway said.

In the 62nd minute of the game Jamal Neptune sent the ball to Carmichael on the right side. Byron was taken down in the box by Edison Bilbuo and Ocean City was awarded a penalty kick. However, Duggan kept the Express in the game with a save on the shot taken by Richter, keeping the deficit at two.

Newark kept pushing the envelope to try to get on the scoreboard. Substitute Argjent Duka crossed to teammate Patrick Figueiredo. Figueiredo fired his shot, but Bar dove to his left for the save, hitting the ball out for a Newark corner kick. Bar, in his third start of the season, made eight saves on the night.

Newark finally broke through in the 72nd minute when Kyle Clancy of was fouled inside the box by Jamar Neptune. Victor Kutynski converted the penalty kick for the Express, cutting the Barons’ lead in half.

“It was a scary couple of minutes, but all in all a very comfortable victory,” Holloway stated.

The Barons would finish the rest of the game with three more goals, giving Carmichael his first hat trick and Ocean City the victory. It was also the first hat trick scored at home in Barons history.

In what seemed like a usual pass up field, Jordan Bar sent the ball to Carmichael who secured the pass, turned and slid the shot past the goalkeeper for his second goal. With that play, Bar becomes the first goalkeeper in Barons franchise history, including the club’s six years as a professional team from 1997-2002, to record an assist on a goal.

To widen the score, Richter came up the right side, and crossed it towards Carmichael in the center. He secured the ball, seemed to lose control for a second, but then dribbled around the goalkeeper and blasted it into the top part of the goal to make it 4-1.

Ocean City’s final goal came from Junior Chapman, who had came into the game for Rory McCrea. He dribbled up the left side, made moves around two defenders, cut to the inside and fired a shot into the upper left hand corner for his first PDL goal. At the age of 17 years, 295 days, Chapman became the second youngest player to ever score a goal for the Barons. Ryan Finley scored a goal last year for the club at 17 years, 47 days.

The Barons have little time to rest as they return to Carey Stadium for the 4th of July as they host the unbeaten Ottawa Fury (8-0-3). The Fury are five points ahead of Ocean City in second place and handed the Barons their first loss of the season, 2-0, back on June 5. Kick off is scheduled for 3 p.m. Tickets are $6 for adults, $4 for kids.