For the third year in a row, multiple players who played for the Ocean City Nor'easters were selected in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft. On Tuesday, Jeorgio Kocevski (Syracuse) was drafted by Orlando City SC in the First Round with the 21st overall pick. In the following round, Real Salt Lake chose defender Josh Jones (Louisville) in the Second Round with the 47th overall selection.

This marks the ninth year out of the last 10 that an Ocean City player has been drafted by an MLS team. This brings the total number of players in club history who have been drafted by an MLS team to 35.

Kocevski spent four years at Syracuse University where he tallied seven goals and had 18 assists. He was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Co-Midfielder of the Year last season and in 2022, he was a key piece to Syracuse's run to a national championship.
 

In the summer of 2022, Kocevski joined the Nor'easters in the second half of the season and had a goal and an assist in six games. Kocevski becomes the third Ocean City alum to be drafted by Orlando City, joining Abdi Salim and Luis Grassow who were selected last year.

Josh Jones was an all-conference selection last season as a junior with the Cardinals of Louisville. The junior logged more than 1,500 minutes in the back line, scoring three goals for the second straight season while adding a pair of assists.

Last summer, Jones played in 10 regular season games and two playoff games for the Nor'easters. The Hatfield, Pa. native also scored two goals, with one of them coming in a postseason game.

In addition to the two draftees, three other Ocean City alums signed with professional teams this week.

Nick Pariano, who spent the last two spectacular seasons with the Ocean City Nor'easters is heading to the pros. It was announced on Thursday that the Philadelphia native signed a two-year homegrown contract with Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union.

The midfielder has been a key piece to the Nor'easters success over the last two seasons, scoring eight goals and dishing out five assists in all competitions. He was the team's Nor'easter Award (now called the President's Award) winner in 2022, which honors the player who represents the club positively both on and off the field. This past season, he was named the team's co-MVP along with Alessandro Arlotti. Pariano was also named the Mid-Atlantic Division Player of the Year and was named to the USL League Two Team of the Year. During those two years, he helped the Nor'easters to a 19-1-8 regular season record and two playoff appearances.

Pariano becomes the sixth Ocean City alum to sign with the Union. He joins John McCarthy, Danny Cepero, JT Noone, Ryan Richter, and Ken Tribbett. Richter is currently an assistant coach with the Union.

Pariano played four seasons at Duke University and was a First Team All-ACC selection as a senior, scoring career highs in goals (4), assists (8), points (16) and minutes played (1,486).

Also signing his first pro contract this week was Jack Sarkos. The Margate City, N.J. native will be joining Crown Legacy FC of MLS Next Pro for the 2024 season. Sarkos scored two goals (both game-winners) and dished out two assists for the Nor'easters last summer. The biggest moment came in the playoffs when he scored an 83rd minute game-winner against the Long Island Rough Riders in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

People in South Jersey have known about Jack Sarkos for a long time. Sarkos broke the all-time goalscoring record at Mainland High School (75 goals), in addition to the single-season record (26). He racked up plenty of awards before heading north to Lehigh University. His breakout season came in his junior year where he led the team in scoring (8 goals, 2 assists) and was named First Team All-Patriot League. In his senior season he was first team all-conference but also added an all-region team selection to his resume. He scored eight goals and added two more assists. After graduating from Lehigh, Sarkos used his last year of eligibility to fly across the country to attend UCLA along with Nor'easters teammate Ryan Becher.

Sarkos scored a team-leading nine goals and added two assists while earning second team all-region honors. He helped the Bruins reach the NCAA tournament.

Daniel Russo, who joined the Nor'easters late last season and was a key part of the team's playoff run, signed with Atlanta United's MLS Next Pro side, Atlanta United 2. The Jackson, N.J. native spent four seasons at the University of Notre Dame. In his junior year, he led the Fighting Irish in scoring and this past season, he led his team to the College Cup Final where they fell short 2-1 vs. Clemson.