The Ocean City Nor’easters avenged last year’s playoff exit with a 2-1 road win over the Long Island Rough Riders on Friday night. Jack Sarkos’ (UCLA / Margate City, NJ) game-winner in the 83rd minute was the difference as Ocean City used a strong defensive performance to advance to Sunday’s Eastern Conference Semifinal.

Josh Jones (Louisville / Hatfield, PA) opened the scoring in the opening minutes only to see Long Island equalize before halftime. The defense held strong throughout the entire second half led by goalkeeper Stefano Camerlengo (Missouri-KC / Pescara, Italy) who made several key saves to remain undefeated as a starter in all competitions with an 8-0-5 record.

MATCH REPLAY VIDEO: Nor'easters vs. Rough Riders

Next, the two-time defending Mid-Atlantic Division champions will face the Hudson Valley Hammers, the wild card team who upset the Seacoast United Phantoms 2-1 in the first game of Friday’s doubleheader. The game will kickoff at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

The winner of Sunday’s match will play the winner of Lionsbridge FC and the North Carolina Fusion U-23s in the Eastern Conference Final.

“It was a full team performance,” said Nor’easters head coach Matt Perrella. “We needed the whole team tonight to beat such a top team on the road. Stefano [Camerlengo] was amazing in goal. Colin [Veltri] played a full 90, Galen [Flynn] dealt with an injury and really put it all out there. Shaun Russell, Dylan Evande, Danny Russo all stepped in and played amazingly for us. It was fantastic. Ale [Alessandro Arlotti] lead the team with great communication. Jamie stepped on and was very solid. Jack Sarkos, wow man, he really deserved that goal. Ryan went from the No. 9 to center back … I can't say enough good things about all the guys. Well- deserved after the league overlooked this team all year.”

The opening goal came in the 4th minute when Nick Pariano (Duke / Philadelphia, PA) delivered an in-swinging corner kick with his right foot. The ball was collected on the opposite side by Colin Veltri (St. John’s / Mays Landing, NJ) and volleyed back into the center of the box when Josh Jones headed it into the back of the net from close range. Jones has been a big part of a strong backline for the Nor’easters all season and this was his second goal of the campaign.

Just like last year’s playoff matchup, Ocean City scored first and Long Island equalized. In the 21st minute, the Rough Riders sent a cross in from the right wing where Camerlengo punched the ball away. However, the ball fell to a Long Island player who centered the ball to Barakatulla Sharifi who one-timed it into the goal.

In last year’s playoff matchup, after Long Island equalized, they carried that momentum to score two more goals to win 3-1. This year, the Nor’easters were the ones who scored winning goal.

Ryan Becher (UCLA / Hummelstown, PA), showed his versatility late in the game, and created the game-winning play. Becher, normally an attacking player, was shifted back to center back when Josh Jones was subbed out in the 67th minute. In the 83rd minute, the Rough Riders defense cleared the ball out of danger to midfield where Becher stepped up from his center back position to intercept the ball. He took a couple of touches and launched a long ball in the air to his future UCLA teammate Sarkos who chested the ball down with his back to goal in between two defenders. Cheating the ball down created just enough space for Sarkos to line up a shot and he fired it past the goalkeeper for his second goal of the season.

It was the 25th all-time meeting between the Nor’easters and the Rough Riders in a rivalry that dates back to 2001 when the two teams were professional sides. With the win, Ocean City evens up the all-time series at 10-10-5.