For the second game in a row, the Ocean City Nor’easters found themselves trailing in the second half against a difficult rival. And for the second game in a row, they battled back to force a draw.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: OCEAN CITY AT WEST CHESTER UNITED

In Wayne, Pa., West Chester United scored two goals in the first 23 minutes of the match, but goals from Joao de Oliveira (Bethel College / Santa Catarina, Brazil) in the 75th minute, and Sander Roed’s (Louisville / Tranby, Norway) equalizer in the 82nd minute brought the game level. The Storm’s final road game of the regular season would finish in a 2-2 draw on Tuesday night.

With the win, the Nor’easters (6-0-4) maintain a four-point lead over second place West Chester United (5-1-3) in the Mid-Atlantic Division race. United has played one fewer game than Ocean City.

Tuesday night’s draw extended Ocean City’s club record unbeaten streak to 25 games (18-0-7). The team’s last loss came on July 9, 2021 against West Chester United. The Nor’easters road unbeaten streak (also a club record) is currently at 21 games (14-0-7). With this being the final road game of the regular season, this means Ocean City has gone three full seasons without a loss on the road. The last road loss came on June 15, 2019 at Reading United.

The Nor’easters’ final four games of the season will all be played in front of their home fans at Carey Stadium (“The Beach House”) in Ocean City, N.J., America’s Greatest Family Resort. The next game is this Friday, June 30 against Real Central New Jersey. All home games will kick off at 7 p.m. Single-game tickets can be purchased for $10 each (general admission). The easiest way to purchase tickets is to buy them online through the Nor'easters website (OceanCityFC.com). Tickets can also be purchased at the Carey Stadium gate either with cash or with a smartphone.
 
The scoring began early. In the fifth minute, a WCU player lofted a long ball from midfield to the right wing where Harrison Coron brought the ball down and touched it forward to get past an Ocean City defender. Coron fired a shot from a tight angle and beat Ocean City goalkeeper Stefano Camerlengo (Missouri-KC / Pescara, Italy) to score the first goal of the game.

In the 23rd minute, after earning a free kick, they played it quickly down the right wing and after a quick chip into the box on the right side, Jack Jasinski volleyed a hard strike to the near post to beat Camerlengo. It was the first time this season that Camerlengo had given up multiple goals in a game.

The Nor’easters continued to push to get on the scoresheet. Just before halftime, a free kick was lofted in from the right wing and Jan Riecke (Harvard / Berlin, Germany) slid to put the ball across the mouth of goal from close range. It deflected off a WCU defender and struck the crossbar and was cleared. In the end, the play was ruled offside.

It would take until the 75th minute for Ocean City to break the shutout. Colin Veltri (St. John’s / Mays Landing, NJ) who came on as a sub just two minutes earlier, received a pass down the right wing deep in WCU territory. He fired a low pass to Joao de Oliveira who was just inside the box and he blasted a shot past West Chester goalkeeper Brady McSwain.

In the 82nd minute, the Nor’easters’ momentum shift continued and they would level the match. They chipped the ball into the penalty area where Arlotti tried to gather the ball but elected to tap it back to Roed who launched a low shot from distance. The ball beat the diving goalkeeper just inside the post. It was Roed’s team-leading sixth goal of the season.

It was Arlotti’s team-leading fifth assist of the season, which gives him 29 career points (9 goals, 11 assists), which ties him with Fredlin Mompremier for 10th on the club’s all-time USL League Two scoring list. 

Neither team was able to break the tie as it finished 2-2.

The match was the third meeting of the season at YSC Sports in Wayne, PA between Ocean City and West Chester, but just the second league match. On March 21, the Nor’easters beat WCU 3-1 in the opening game of the 2023 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. On June 6, Ocean City won 2-0 to give them a fifth straight win over WCU in all competitions. Tuesday’s draw extends the Storm’s unbeaten streak against United to six games (5-0-1). They lead the all-time series at 6-2-2 and they will meet for a fourth time in the regular season finale at the Beach House on July 16 in a game that could decide the division title.