The Ocean City Barons defeated the Long Island Rough Riders 2-0 at Carey Stadium on Sunday night to put themselves in the driver’s seat for a berth in the 2009 U.S. Open Cup. Steve Miller and Karl Reddick scored for the Barons and Tunde Ogunbiyi made seven saves to earn a clean sheet in his 2009 debut.

Ocean City Barons Starting Lineup	School / Hometown
GK - Tunde Ogunbiyi	Boston College / Gwynedd, PA
DEF - Jamal Neptune	Hofstra / East Windsor, NJ
DEF - Kevin Curran	Loyola College / Upper Twp, NJ
DEF - Jimmy Davis	LaSalle (’09) / Pittsgrove, NJ
DEF - Joe Banks	Drexel (’07) / Sicklerville, NJ
MID - Karl Reddick	Boston College / Pottstown, PA
MID - Leon Brown	Wheeling Jesuit (’04) / Sicklerville, NJ
MID - Rory McCrea	Hofstra / Leeds, England
MID - William Swetra	James Madison / Egg Harbor, NJ
FWD - J.T. Noone	Temple / Harrisburg, PA
FWD - Byron Carmichael	Marshall (’03) / Lumberton, NJ
Substitutes
Sal Pistone	Stockton College / Blackwood, NJ
Ryan Richter	LaSalle / Southampton, PA
Billy Pinto	Hofstra / Audubon, NJ
Kyle Miller	Holy Cross / Woodbury, NJ
Dan Korenyi	LaSalle / Cinneminson, NJ
Steve Miller	Colgate / Ivyland, PA
Scoring Summary
39th (OCEAN CITY)	Karl Reddick (Penalty Kick)
87th (OCEAN CITY)	Steve Miller (JT Noone)
Game Stats
	OCEAN CITY						LONG ISLAND
Shots	6						7
Saves	7						3
Fouls	13						7
Offsides	2						3
Corners	3						6

It was a crucial game for both clubs, a paramount example of the what Open Cup qualifying brings to the early part of the PDL season. A win by Long Island (2-1-0) on Sunday night would have clinched them a spot in the Open Cup, but with Ocean City picking up the three points, the Barons (1-0-1) are now two road wins away (at New Hampshire and at Rhode Island next weekend) from a spot in the tournament.

The Men In Red came out of the gate with an intense style of play, a plan that Head Coach Neil Holloway was pleased with.

"We played our exact game plan and it worked perfectly," said Holloway. "We out-battled, out-fought them in midfield, and they had a hard time with our pressure." 

That pressure didn’t pay off until the 39th minute when the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, Byron Carmichael (Marshall / Lumberton, NJ) ran onto a ball behind the defense and was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but was tackled from behind by Long Island’s Rich Martinez. The referee pointed to the spot and moments later, Karl Reddick (Boston College / Pottstown, PA) slotted home the penalty kick for his first Barons goal.

The Rough Riders came out in the second half with more fire, testing Ocean City goalkeeper Tunde Ogunbiyi on a few occasions. Ogunbiyi was up to the task, making three major saves, one of them spectacular, to keep Long Island’s offense, led by former Baron Michael Todd (Hofstra / Cleveland, England), scoreless. Ogunbiyi is returning to the boardwalk this year after being limited to only five games in 2008 because of his commitments to the Nigerian Olympic team.

The home team used all six of their subs in an effort to stay fresh and the extra energy paid off late in the game. J.T. Noone (Temple / Harrisburg, PA), the team’s first Division I All-American, served a ball into second half substitute Steve Miller, who beat the keeper in the 87th minute to put the game away, 2-0. 

The win by Ocean City was the first against the Rough Riders since they joined the PDL in 2007. Their last win against Long Island came in 2005 when the Barons upset the Riders when they were a professional club (USL Second Division) in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup.

The Barons head north next weekend for a pair of road games against the New Hampshire Phantoms on Friday (7:30 p.m.) and the Rhode Island Stingrays on Saturday (7:00 p.m.). If the Barons win both games, they will qualify for the U.S. Open Cup. Next weekend’s games are the first two of six straight road games.

The Men In Red won’t return to the Beach House until June 20 when they face the Brooklyn Knights at 7 p.m.