The Ocean City Nor’easters got their Mid-Atlantic Division title defense off on the right foot with a 4-1 win over Philadelphia Lone Star FC in the team’s 2024 USL League Two season opener at Carey Stadium (“The Beach House”) in Ocean City, N.J.

With Saturday night's win, the Nor’easters extend their winning streak in home openers to six games dating back to 2017 . Ocean City is also unbeaten in their last seven season openers (4-0-2).

Alberto Cruz (Memphis/Madrid, Spain) and Nolan Spicer (Notre Dame/Bay Village, OH) scored first half goals while Arthur Widiez (Florida Atlantic/Eze, France) and Andrew Kitch (North Carolina/Medford, NJ) added a goal each in the second half to lead a balanced offensive attack.

Marc Bonnaire (West Virginia/Warrenton, VA) was solid in goal and nearly had a clean sheet, but the lone Philadelphia goal came late in the game from the penalty spot.

“We knew Lone Star would be a fast and physical group with some dangerous players out there,” said Nor’easters head coach Matt Perrella. “They definitely gave us some fits but ultimately we had enough quality to overcome their press and pace. It's a great first result for a group that is dominantly new and establishing its identity. We need to enjoy the result but get back to work tomorrow in preparation for our new match Wednesday.”

The opening goal came in the 13th minute when defender Josh Jones (Louisville/Hatfield, PA) won the ball in midfield and fed the ball to Widiez, who quickly found Colin Veltri (Elon/Mays Landing, NJ) and returned the ball to Widiez. That allowed Widiez a path to the goal, but he laid it off to Cruz who tapped it in for the first goal of the season.

In the 42nd minute, the Nor’easters doubled the lead starting with some defensive pressure. The Storm created a turnover near midfield and Widiez chipped a ball forward to Veltri who ran onto it on the right wing. The Mays Landing native played a low cross into the box where it found Spicer who controlled it near the penalty spot and beat the keeper low to send Ocean City into the locker room with a 2-0 lead.

After halftime, the Nor’easters continued to control the match and they added to their lead in the 54th minute. A long throw-in from the left wing by Kaelan Debbage found the head of Widiez right on the doorstep of the Lone Star goal. Widiez’s header gave the goalkeeper no chance and the home team had a 3-0 lead. It was the first Ocean City goal for Widiez (to go along with his first assist), who previously played for the Storm during the 2022 season.

In the 82nd minute, Philly would spoil the shutout after the speedy Mamadou Diarra would gain the box from the left wing, guarded tightly by Diego Palma (Indiana Wesleyan/Santiago, Chile) who took down Diarra and earned a yellow card. The referee pointed to the spot and Diarra would take the penalty kick. Bonnaire would guess correctly, diving to his right, but the shot was just out of his reach and Diarra would score his second goal of the campaign.

About three minutes later, any hopes of a comeback would be dashed by a fourth Ocean City goal. The Philadelphia goalkeeper threw a ball up field only to have Theo Silva (Univ. of Rio Grande/Sao Paulo, Brazil) steal it and play it quickly up the field to Marco Silva (Marshall/Coopersburg, PA) who quickly touched the ball over to Andrew Kitch who faked a shot with his right, pulled it to his left and beat the keeper with a low shot from the top of the ‘D’.

With that fourth goal, it marked the most goals the Nor’easters have scored in a home opener since a 4-1 home win over Evergreen FC on May 19, 2017. The win also improves the Storm’s all-time record against Philadelphia to 9-1-1 and extends their unbeaten streak against Lone Star to eight games.

Next up for the Nor’easters, they will head north to take on Real Central New Jersey on Wednesday, May 29. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The next home game for the Storm is on June 4 when they host FC Monmouth in a friendly.

The next regular season home game for Ocean City isn’t until June 15 when they host the Philadelphia Lone Star again. Single-game tickets and season passes can be purchased HERE.