The Ocean City Barons (5-3-5) are still unable to beat the Hampton Roads Piranhas (4-6-2) after falling 2-1 on Sunday night. The second year franchise swept the Barons last year en route to an unbeaten regular season, and now lead the brief all-time series 3-0.

Ocean City Barons Starting Lineup	School / Hometown
GK - Dylan Lawrence	Lees-McRae / Winterville, NC
DEF - Ryan Richter	LaSalle / Southampton, PA
DEF - Leon Brown	Wheeling Jesuit (’04) / Siparia, Trinidad
DEF - Jimmy Davis	LaSalle / Pittsgrove, NJ
DEF - Joe Banks	Drexel (’07) / Sicklerville, NJ
MID - Jeremy Ortiz	LaSalle (’07) / Mt. Laurel, NJ
MID - Joe Ilett	Eckerd College / Maldon, ENG
MID - Lee Squires	Lees-McRae / Sheffield, ENG
MID - Adam Sternberger	Rutgers (’08) / Mays Landing, NJ
FWD - Steve Miller	Colgate / Ivyland, PA
FWD - Byron Carmichael	Marshall (’03) / Lumberton, NJ
Substitutes
Nick Sih	Duke / Horsham, PA
Rich Baker	Monmouth / Ocean City, NJ
BJ Glenn	Lafayette / Phila, PA
Scoring Summary
5th (OCEAN CITY)	Jeremy Ortiz (Lee Squires)
31st (HR PIRANHAS)	Rob Sgueglia (Unassisted)
42nd (HR PIRANHAS)	Tom Woollard (Penalty Kick)
Game Stats
	OCEAN CITY						HR PIRANHAS
Shots On Goal	6						3
Saves	2						5
Fouls	7						10
Offsides	6						1
Corners	7						0

For only the fifth time this season, the Barons struck first when Lee Squires (Lees-McRae / Sheffield, England) sent Jeremy Ortiz (LaSalle / Mt. Laurel, NJ) through on the right side of the box. Byron Carmichael (Marshall / Lumberton, NJ) and Steve Miller (Colgate / Ivyland, PA) were both offside on the play, but Ortiz was not and beat Piranhas goalkeeper Andrew Techanchuk to give the home side a 1-0 lead. 

The Barons continued to put on the pressure, and controled the run of play for the majority of the first half. However, the Piranhas managed to equalize in the 31st minute when they sent in a cross and the ball fell to Rob Sgueglia right in front of goal -- right place at the right time -- and he put it past Dylan Lawrence (Lees-McRae / Winterville, NC) to tie the game.

The match looked to be headed to a draw at halftime, but just before the whistle, Davis earned a yellow card when he pulled Sgueglia to the ground in the penalty area. The referee called for a spot kick and Tom Woollard gave the visitors a 2-1 lead in the 42nd minute.

Ocean City threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Piranhas goal, but were unable to find the equalizer.

Tonight marked the 2008 debut for Rich Baker (Monmouth / Ocean City, NJ), the Ocean City native who played for the Barons in 2005 and 2006. He came off the bench at halftime and contributed to the attack.

Lawrence made two saves but his goalkeeping record falls to 1-2-1. Tunde Ogunbiyi (New Hampshire / Gwynedd, PA) was on the bench for the Barons, but he will be leaving on Tuesday to continue pre-tournament training with the Nigerian Olympic team in Florida.

Techanchuk made five saves for Hampton Roads to give them their fourth win of the season.

Tonight’s loss puts Wednesday’s match against the first place Brooklyn Knights in a "must-win" category. With only three games remaining, the Barons are five points behind the Knights for the Northeast Division crown, but are four points behind Newark for the wild card with a game in hand.

Sunday’s defeat is only the seventh home loss in club history for the Barons, with two of those coming at the hands of the Piranhas.

Ocean City travel to Brooklyn for their final road game of the season on Wednesday night. Kick-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
 

Northeast Division				Points (Gm Left)
Newark			7-2-6	27 (1)
Brooklyn			7-2-4	25 (3)
OCEAN CITY			5-3-5	20 (3)
Westchester			6-5-2	20 (3)
Long Island			5-4-4	19 (3)
Eastern Conference Wild Card				Points (Gm Left)
Brooklyn			7-2-4	25 (3)
Fredericksburg			7-5-0	21 (4)
OCEAN CITY			5-3-5	20 (3)
Westchester			6-5-2	20 (3)
Ottawa			6-3-2	20 (5)
Standings after Tuesday, July 8th