Photo: Jack Verdeur

The Ocean City Nor'easters kicked off the club's 25th season with a 1-1 draw on the road against Real Central New Jersey on Saturday night.

Alessandro Arlotti (Harvard / San Remo, Italy) scored the lone goal for the Nor'easters in the 25th minute, only to see the RCNJ equalize with a penalty kick about 10 minutes later.

The game was played at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, N.J., a venue that the Nor'easters called home temporarily during the 2003 season.

With the draw, Ocean City's unbeaten streak in season openers reaches six games (4-0-2), and the club's overall road unbeaten streak, which dates back to 2019, is now at eight games. The Storm haven't lost a game at the MCC Soccer Stadium since 2003, an unbeaten streak of eight games (7-0-1).

"It feels like we dropped a result but all things considered, I'm happy with our team," said Nor'easters head coach Kevin Nuss. "It's an early season match. We just aren't sharp or fit enough yet."

After an opening 15 minutes that saw both teams feeling each other out, the Nor'easters started to create some quality chances. After forcing RCNJ goalkeeper Eric Wronowski to make a pair of saves, including a spectacular diving stop in the 20th minute on Gyorgy Kamaras (Baker Univ. / Budapest, Hungary).

Ocean City would finally find their breakthrough in the 25th minute.

Nick Pariano (Duke / Philadelphia, PA) played a ball on the ground from the right wing into the penalty box where Alessandro Arlotti took a touch to get through a narrow lane in the RCNJ defense and poked the ball past the goalkeeper to score the Storm's first goal of 2022.

Less than five minutes later, Frederik Jorgensen (West Virginia / Aarhus, Denmark) was played through and put the ball in the back of the net, but the assistant referee had his flag raised for an offside call.

In the 32nd minute, a bad bounce at the back led to RCNJ being awarded a penalty kick. Nor'easters goalkeeper Ben Martino (Virginia Tech / Pittsburgh, PA) misjudged a bounce off the turf, and the ball got behind him. Martino raced back to track down the ball as it was heading toward the goal and he was able to clear it to safety. However, the referee ruled that he fouled RCNJ forward Wesley Leggett who was racing him to the ball.

Leggett stepped up to the penalty spot to try to tie the game but Martino was up to the task. The Virginia Tech goalkeeper guessed right, saving Leggett's attempt by diving to his right. However, the rebound came back out to Leggett who pounced on it and tied the game in the 34th minute.

Pariano tested Wronowski in the 41st minute with a left-footed shot but the RCNJ netminder was up to the task.

The two teams canceled each other out in the first 25 minutes of the second half, only to see Ocean City bring on some fresh legs and take control of the remainder of the game. The Nor'easters kept the ball pinned in to offensive third for the last 10 minutes but they were unable to find the winning goal.

Ocean City outshot RCNJ 22-9. Martino made five saves in his Ocean City debut.

"RCNJ is a good team," said Nuss. "They executed their plan well and their goalkeeper was big time."

Wronowski made eight saves to keep RCNJ undefeated in the young season (1-0-1)

The Nor'eaters remain undefeated against the RCNJ after sweeping both games in their inaugural season in 2021. The two teams will play again at the Beach House (Carey Stadium) in Ocean City, N.J., America's Greatest Family Resort. The game will be played on June 19.

The next game for the Nor'easters will be on Friday, May 27 when they host their home opener at Carey Stadium against Philadelphia Lone Star FC. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at OceanCityFC.com.