The next few league games are extremely important for the Ocean City Nor’easters, and it starts on Friday night when they visit long-time rival Reading United AC in the final regular season road game of the season. The game will be played at Don Thomas Stadium in Reading, Pa., with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

For those unable to attend the game in person, there will be a live video stream available through Reading United's YouTube page.



It will be the 44th all-time meeting between the clubs as they add another chapter to one of the oldest rivalries in modern American soccer.

The Mid-Atlantic Division has turned into a three-horse race for two PDL playoff spots. Reading (6-1-0) and Ocean City (6-3-0) are tied for second place with United having played two fewer games. After a midweek win, the New York Red Bulls U-23s sit on top of the table with an 8-1-0 record, six points clear of second place. With the top two teams making the postseason, this is a massive game for both Reading and Ocean City.

In their last league game, the Nor'easters defeated Evergreen FC on the road this past Saturday with two goals from Fredlin "Fredinho" Mompremier (Fairleigh Dickinson / Limbe, Haiti). With those two goals, Fredinho, took over the team lead in scoring with six goals (seven in all competitions). The win also gave the Nor'easters a three-game season sweep of the Hammers for the second consecutive season and improved their all-time record against the Virginia club to 11-0-1.

For Nor'easters head coach John Thompson, the win over the Hammers was just what the team needed.

“We played some good football and got back to our winning ways,” Thompson said. “We did a great job of defending our lead away from home in the last 15 minutes.”

Reading enter Friday's game riding a five-game winning streak after Wednesday's 3-0 home win over Evergreen FC. In the game, Aaron Molloy scored his fourth and fifth goals of the season, which leads the team. Starting goalkeeper Alexandre Bouillennec leads the team with nine saves and has an impressive 0.40 goals against average.

The last time the Nor'easters faced Reading was back on June 2 at Don Thomas Stadium with United coming away with a narrow 1-0 win. It was featured as the PDL Game of the Week and both teams didn't disappoint, as both played an excellent defensive game with the only goal coming on a deflected goal in the 82nd minute by Molloy.

“We are getting the lads ready for a big second half of the season,” said Thompson. “We are in playoff football mode already, we need to be sharp physically and mentally.”

The clubs first met back in 1997 as professional teams, and since then, Ocean City leads the all-time series against Reading United 19-17-7.