For the first time in USL League Two play, the Ocean City Nor'easters will square off with the Philadelphia Lone Star FC on Wednesday night.

Lone Star FC was originally scheduled to host the match in South Philadelphia, but due to unforeseen circumstances with their home venue at the South Philadelphia Super Site, the game was moved to Carey Stadium ("The Beach House") in Ocean City, N.J., America's Greatest Family Resort.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

General admission tickets are $10 each and can be purchased in advance on the Nor'easters website, and at the Carey Stadium gate with cash or with a smartphone. Ocean City School District students, soccer coaches of all levels and players from the South Jersey Elite Barons and New Jersey Surf all get in free.

For fans unable to make it out to the Beach House, the Nor'easters are partnering with BFA Productions to provide a live video stream of Sunday's game, and all home games for the 2021 season. Local broadcast veteran Mike Frankel will handle the play-by-play duties. A link to the online broadcast will be posted on the Nor'easters social media accounts two hours before kickoff.

There will also be live in-game updates available on the Nor'easters' Twitter account (@OCNoreasters).

The Nor'easters enter Wednesday's game in second place in the Mid-Atlantic Division with a 4-0-1 record. Starting the first five games of the season undefeated is the best start to the season since Ocean City's Eastern Conference championship season in 2013. 

This past Saturday, the Storm extended their unbeaten streak (dating back to the 2019 season) to 12 games with a 3-2 road win over Northern Virginia FC. Simon Becher (St. Louis Univ. / Brooklyn, CT) led Ocean City with a pair of goals while Tal Segev (NC State / Rishon LeZion, Israel) scored his first goal with the club off a free kick. 

Becher leads the Nor'easters with five goals, which is also tied for second in the league. Theo Quartey (Villanova / Accra, Ghana), who assisted on Becher's second goal, is tied for the league lead with four assists.

The Philadelphia Lone Star were supposed to join USL League Two as an expansion team in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed their debut until 2021. But this won't be the first time they have played against the Nor'easters. The first time they met was in the 2017 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup when Ocean City blanked Lone Star FC (back when they were under the name "Junior Lone Star FC"), 3-1 in the First Round of the tournament. The two teams met again toward the end of the 2019 season in an exhibition game when Lone Star was a member of the NPSL. The game finished in a 1-1 draw with Deri Corfe scoring the lone goal and Philadelphia's only tally was an Ocean City own goal.

Lone Star has been a club since 2001, playing in various Philadelphia area leagues before joining the NPSL where they remained until this past season.

Philadelphia enters Wednesday's game with a 3-4-0 record, but they are still within striking distance of a possible playoff spot. The top two teams in the division qualify for the postseason with the best third place team in the Eastern Conference also punching their ticket. A win on Wednesday could send them as high as third place in the division standings.

The Nor'easters will be following the state's COVID-19 protocols to ensure the safety of everyone attending Sunday's game and throughout the entire season. The state of New Jersey does not have a capacity limit for venues like Carey Stadium at this time, and fans are not required to wear masks in an outdoor setting, but anyone who is not vaccinated is encouraged to wear a mask in any indoor setting such as bathrooms. For more information on the New Jersey Department of Health's guidance, please click HERE.