Preview: Nor'easters face Lehigh Valley in final road game Wednesday night
Ocean City looks for second straight win to keep PDL playoff hopes alive
The Ocean City Nor'easters continue their push for the PDL playoffs on Wednesday night with a trip up to Eastern Pennsylvania to take on Lehigh Valley United. It is the final road game of the 2018 Premier Development League (PDL) regular season as United will host Ocean City at JBC Stadium in Allentown, Pa.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and there will not be a live stream available. Fans unable to make the trip to Allentown can follow all the action on the Nor'easters' Twitter account.
The Nor'easters enter Wednesday's action with a 5-4-0 record and are in fourth place in the Mid-Atlantic Division. The top two teams in the division qualify for the postseason and Ocean City are seven points behind the second place Long Island Rough Riders. The Nor'easters have also played one fewer game than Long Island.
Lehigh Valley are 1-8-0 and are in sixth place in the division and have lost their last six games. In their last outing, they lost a tight 2-1 home game to the Rough Riders.
The two teams met earlier in the season in Allentown on June 14 when the Nor'easters defeated Lehigh Valley 4-1. Abdul Mansaray (Wilmington / London, England) led the way by creating three first half goals (two goals, one assist) and Simone Raiola (Grand View / Triuggo, Italy) added a goal and an assist. Todd Morton (Delaware / West Chester, PA) only had to make five saves and nearly had his second straight clean sheet, but Lehigh Valley scored a late goal to end the team's shutout streak at 283 minutes.
With the win, Ocean City improved to 6-1-0 all-time against Lehigh Valley. Wednesday's game will be the second of three meetings this season. The Nor'easters will welcome Lehigh Valley to the Beach House in Ocean City on July 11.
The Nor'easters' leading scorer is Simone Raiola who has three goals and three assists. Mansaray and Deri Corfe (Wright State / Chester, England) are also tied for the team lead in goals with three, and Fredlin "Fredinho" Mompremier (Fairleigh Dickinson / Limbe, Haiti), who led the team in goals last year, is tied with Raiola for the most assists on the team with three.
Following Wednesday's road game, the Nor'easters will return home to Ocean City where they will play their remaining six games (two of them are friendlies) in front of their fans at the Beach House. Their next home game is Saturday, June 30 when the Nor'easters host FA Euro New York. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. (TICKET INFO)