Memorial Day Weekend is an extra special holiday for the city of Ocean City, N.J., America's Greatest Family Resort. For most people, it's the beginning of the summer season and for the Ocean City Nor'easters it's often the beginning of a new season in USL League Two.

The Nor'easters will help kick off Memorial Day weekend on Friday night when they host the club's 26th home opener at Carey Stadium ("The Beach House"). Ocean City will welcome the Philadelphia Lone Star FC to the Beach House.

Olivia Currier will be there to perform the national anthem for her fifth season in a row. Kickoff for all Nor'easters home games this season is at 7 p.m. Buy your tickets online here!


Those who are unable to make it out to the Beach House, there will be a live stream available here. 

It's been a busy week for the Nor'easters. The Storm enter the game with two road wins under their collective belt. A 1-0 season opening win over Real Central New Jersey last Saturday with Sander Roed scoring the lone goal off an assist by Nick Pariano. That day, goalkeeper Felix Schafer broke the club record by extending his shutout streak to 499 minutes (dating back to last season). On Wednesday, they traveled to Bethlehem, Pa. and beat Lehigh Valley United 3-1. Sander Roed added two more goals to his resume, and North Carolina-bound teenager Andrew Kitch scored his first Ocean City goal. The Storm will now play their third game in less than a week against Philadelphia on Friday, the team they hosted for last year's home opener (a dramatic 2-1 win).

Ocean City enters the weekend tied with Philadelphia and West Chester United atop the Mid-Atlantic Division. All three teams are 2-0-0.

Lone Star FC played their first two games of the season at home. They began on May 13 with a 3-0 win over Lehigh Valley United thanks to a brace by Mamadou Diarra and another goal by Aboubacar Camara. Camara is a player to watch as he was listed on the USL-2 Top Prospects list last season. Liam Smith earned the clean sheet in goal.

It was much more challenging for their second game on May 20. Reading United scored two goals in the first 25 minutes and put Lone Star in a hole. But Patrick Singbah pulled one back before halftime, Eric Swen Jr. equalized in the 50th minute and Mamdou Diarra completed the comeback with the game-winning goal in the 75th minute. Liam Smith was also in goal for Philly that day.

The Nor'easters and Lone Star FC have met seven times, six of them in league play (eight times if you include a 1-1 draw in a friendly in 2017). The first time the two clubs played was in the First Round of the 2017 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup at the Beach House. Fredlin Mompremier, Tyler Collishaw and Akeil Barrett all scored for the Storm that day, with Ignacio Tellechea adding a pair of assists.

In league play, Ocean City has won four of the six meetings with one draw and one loss. The lone loss to Philadelphia came at Carey Stadium on June 23, 2021. Lone Star won 2-1 which was the Storm's first loss of the season and snapped their 15-game unbeaten streak and 13-game home unbeaten streak.

Last year, after the aforementioned 2-1 comeback win in the home opener on May 27, the Nor'easters settled for a scoreless draw in Philadelphia on July 6. That day, Felix Schafer picked up his fourth clean sheet and head coach Kevin Nuss broke the club record with his 19th straight unbeaten game as a coach. The third and final meeting for the Storm was also in Philadelphia for the last game of the regular season. Alessandro Arlotti scored the second fastest hat trick in club history (49th, 60th, 61st mins.), including one of them being voted USL League Two Goal of the Week. Jeorgio Kocevski added a PK in the 4-0 win that clinched the club's first undefeated regular season since 2004. Felix Scafer also started and played 67 minutes which was enough to break the single-season club record for goals against average (0.55). Assistant coach and current head coach Matt Perrella replaced him in goal and finished out the 4-0 win. 

Entering Friday night's game, the Nor'easters have another set of unbeaten streaks to defend (they have only lost one regular season game since falling to Philadelphia two years ago). Ocean City comes into the weekend riding a 17-game unbeaten streak and a seven-game home unbeaten streak.