Preview: Nor'easters meet Cedar Stars Rush for first time in Wednesday tilt
Ocean City can move into second place in the Mid-Atlantic Division with a midweek win
The Ocean City Nor'easters head back out on the road to take on the Cedar Stars Rush in USL League Two action on Wednesday night. The game will be held at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
There will be no live video stream available but fans can follow the Nor'easters' Twitter account for in-game updates.
After losing their first game of the season a week ago, the Nor'easters bounced back with a 2-1 win over Evergreen FC in Ocean City's home opener last Saturday. Deri Corfe (Wright State / Chester, England) scored his team-leading third goal of the season and Ilias Kosmidis (High Point / Thessaloniki, Greece) scored the game-winner in the 85th minute to give the Nor'easters a home opening win for the fourth year in a row. It also extended their all-time unbeaten streak against Evergreen FC to 15 games (14-0-1).
Jan Hoffelner (St. John's / Frankfurt, Germany) made six saves in the match. Last year's NPSL Goalkeeper of the Year has started all four league games and would have had a pair of shutouts, but two of the five goals he has allowed this season have been penalty kicks.
The Nor'easters enter Wednesday's midweek league game with a 2-1-1 record, which puts them just five points behind first-place Reading United AC. A win will put the Storm into a tie for second place in a Mid-Atlantic Division. The Rush are current 1-2-3 in the early season with every game being competitive so far in their inaugural season in USL League Two.
After starting out their season with back-to-back road games, resulting in a loss to the Long Island Rough Riders and a scoreless draw with FA Euro New York. Wednesday's game will be the fourth of five straight home games for the Rush who earned their first USL League Two victory with a 2-1 win over the New York Red Bulls Under-23s (who were a playoff team a year ago) with goals from Kian Alberto and Noah Amissah. Their last game was on May 28 resulted in a narrow 1-0 loss to Reading United AC.
The Nor'easters defense may have an advantage on paper. If you remove the two penalty kick goals, the Ocean City defense has only allowed three goals in their opening five games, as well as a 2-0 shutout over FC Monmouth in an exhibition game. Cedar Stars have scored just three goals in their opening five matches.
The Cedar Stars Rush, an established power in the youth soccer game are owned by George Altirs, the owner of Capelli Sport and a majority owner of Penn FC of the United Soccer League (who are currently on hiatus). They have recently partnered with Rush Soccer and have brought in Anthony Nixon as the club's head coach for its inaugural season.