Defense has been the Ocean City Nor'easters' calling card the last few years and with a strong core of returning players in 2024, that looks to remain the same this summer.

2024 Ocean City Nor'easters Player Profiles

2024 Nor’easters Forwards   2024 Nor'easters Midfielders 2024 Nor'easters Goalkeepers

This year's group features players with nearly all of them coming from NCAA Division I programs and others with international experience. Josh Jones, who was drafted by Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer, is back for his second season with the Nor'easters.

You can find all of the 2024 defenders listed below (in alphabetical order):

Rocco Haeufgloeckner (Temple / Kirchzell, Germany)

Haeufgloeckner makes the short journey from Philadelphia where he helps anchor the backline at Temple University. He arrived at North Philly from Germany where he grew up playing in the youth academy at Bundesliga club FSV Mainz 05.

When he joined the Owls in 2022 he was a regular starter and picked up three assists as a freshman. As a sophomore, he started all 15 games for Temple and was one of four players to play over 1,000 minutes. He scored two goals and had an assist, highlighted by his first career goal which was a game-winner in the Owls’ upset of No. 10-ranked Syracuse.

Josh Jones (Louisville / Hatfield, PA)

Jones traveled from a small town north of Philadelphia to Kentucky to play for ACC powerhouse Louisville. In his first season at Louisville, Jones immediately earned a starting job (16 starts in 18 games) and scored two goals and added an assist. In 2022, he was one of two Cardinals to start every game of the season and lead the team in minutes played. Jones scored three goals and had an assist as he helped the Cardinals reach the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row.

Last year, Jones earned All-ACC honors, adding three goals and two assists. He also was named to the All-ACC Academic Team. The Cardinals made the NCAA tournament again, scoring a goal and adding an assist in a 4-3 opening round win over Dayton (Louisville would fall to No. 5 West Virginia, 1-0).

After his junior season, Jones was drafted by Real Salt Lake in the Second Round (47th overall) of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. However, he decided to return to Louisville to finish his degree. Jones will finish his senior year this fall and then will join RSL ahead of the 2025 MLS season.

Before joining the Nor’easters last season, Jones suited up for the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals and was voted the 2022 NPSL Young Player of the Season by TopDrawerSoccer.com. For the Nor’easters, Jones played in 10 regular season games (9 starts), helping the team earn four clean sheets and started the first two playoff games (both victories on the road against Long Island Rough Riders and the Hudson Valley Hammers). He scored two goals for Ocean City. The first coming in the regular season on the road against the Philadelphia Lone Star FC on June 21 in a 4-1 win. Then, he scored the opening goal in the Storm’s 2-1 playoff road win against Long Island on July 21.

Moses Kafeero (Carleton University / Ottawa, Ontario)

Kafeero comes to Ocean City after another deep run in the national tournament with his team at Carleton University (Ottawa, Ontario). He was part of a defense that helped the Ravens win the Ontario University Athletics championship for the fourth time and the first time since 2019. That made them a top seed in the U SPORTS national tournament where they reached the quarterfinals where they would fall to the Montreal Carabins in penalty kicks.

Kafeero started his college career in 2019 with the University of Guelph where he was named the 2019 national rookie of the year. After the 2020-2021 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he transferred to Carleton.

While born in Ottawa, his parents are originally from Uganda, so he was able to represent Uganda at the youth international level. He played for the Under-20 national team at the AFCON tournament in Mauritania in 2021. Kafeero also spent time last summer with Lansing City Futsal of USL League Two.

Charlie Kitch (St. John’s / Medford, NJ)

Kitch joins his twin brother Andrew on the 2024 Nor’easters roster. The Medford, N.J. native comes to Ocean City from St. John’s University where he will be entering his sophomore season this fall. During his freshman year, he saw limited playing time (5 games played, including two starts) on a talented Red Storm team that were 8-4-5 in the very competitive Big East Conference.  

Prior to arriving at St. John’s in New York City, he played at Shawnee High School where he helped the Renegades to the 2022 NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 championship game and won the school’s first sectional title since 2006 with a Southwest Group E Championship in 2020. Kitsch also played alongside his brother Andrew and won a pair of US Youth Soccer National League titles in 2019 and 2021 with Real Jersey FC.

The Kitch brothers come from a strong soccer family with their dad playing college soccer himself and their older brother Owen playing college ball at Stockton University.

Bryce Meredith (Memphis / Raleigh, NC)

Meredith started his college career at Lehigh University and after two seasons he transferred to the University of Memphis. As a senior, he started 16 of the 18 games he played in and helped the Tigers earn six shutout wins. Meredith also helped Memphis make history by qualifying for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2004. He would make some personal history in that first NCAA tournament game when he scored his first career goal against Saint Louis University. He closed out his college career last year as a grad student where he played in 11 games (7 starts) and added another goal to his career tally (Oct. 21 vs. Temple). Meredith returns to Ocean City after playing four games (two starts) last season, helping the Nor'easters win a second straight division title.

Jansen Miller (Indiana / Ballwin, MO)

Miller joins the Nor’easters as one of the top defenders for national powerhouse Indiana for the last four years. He has one more grad year left to go with the Hoosiers but last year, he was a regular in the IU lineup, starting 17 of the 19 games he played in.The team racked up 9 clean sheets and had an impressive 0.79 goals against average. The Hoosiers won the Big Ten ‘double” for the 12th time and punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the 37th year in a row. After three tournament wins, IU would fall in the Elite Eight in a penalty kick shootout to rival Notre Dame.

Miller began his college career as one of the top high school recruits (ranked No. 38 by TopDrawerSoccer.com) and signed with Xavier. The St. Louis area native would transfer to Bloomington after two seasons in Cincinnati. In his junior season, he was part of a team that tallied nine clean sheets, a 1.15 GAA. Miller was also named to the 2022 College Cup team as the Hoosiers fell to Syracuse in the national championship game.

Philip Naef (UCLA / Copenhagen, Denmark)

Naef is one of three players making the coast-to-coast trip to play at Ocean City. He arrived at UCLA for his freshman year last fall with an accomplished youth soccer career that included time with two major European academies. The Danish born defender won a Under-17 championship with FC Copenhagen, and a Swiss national championship with BSC Young Boys. He also spent time with the Switzerland Under-19 national team.

In his freshman season he played 10 games for a very good Bruins team led by Ocean City alums Jack Sarkos and Ryan Becher (who both signed professional contracts this offseason). UCLA went undefeated in conference play, finished the regular season ranked in the Top 25 and earned a trip to the NCAA tournament. With a college season under his belt and a top-10 recruiting class coming in, Naef is likely to play an even bigger role in a very good UCLA team this fall.

Agustin Resch (Seton Hall / Arata, Argentina)

Making the journey from Arata, Argentina to New Jersey, Resch was a part of extending the recent resurgence at Seton Hall. After years of losing records, the Pirates have now had a winning record in three of the last four seasons. This past season, Seton Hall was 8-6-3 with Resch starting seven of the 14 games he played in, scoring one goal in a 3-3 draw on the road at Villanova.

Prior to arriving in the Garden State in the fall of 2023, Resch played his youth soccer at the Asociación Atletico Argentinos Juniors (AAAJ) club.

Brayden Strait (Auburn at Montgomery / South Riding, VA)

Another talented new addition to the Nor’easters backline is Brayden Strait. The South Riding, Va. native arrives at the Beach House from Alabama where he played his first full college season at Auburn University at Montgomery last year (NCAA Div. II). After redshirting his freshman year in 2022, he made a major impact in his debut season last fall with the Warhawks. He started 16 of the 17 games he played in and was second on the team with more than 1,400 minutes played. Strait was a key player on a backline that was the No. 1 defense in the nation (0.71 GAA). He also made the all-tournament team in Auburn’s conference tournament.  

Tre Wright (UCLA / Austin, TX)

Another well-traveled young player joining the Nor’easters is Tre Wright. Wright was born in nearby Somers Point, N.J. but after his parents moved to Austin, Texas for work where he attended Lake Travis High School. There he won a state championship in 2022. He played his club ball at Capital City SC where he was a part of an Elite Academy National Championship in 2023.

After starting in the Garden State, growing up in Texas, Wright traveled west to enroll at UCLA. In his freshman year, he primarily came off the bench, playing in 12 games. Along with Ocean City alums Ryan Becher and Jack Sarkos, the Bruins won the Pac-12 championship with a 9-4-5 overall record and an undefeated (6-0-4) conference record. UCLA were undefeated in every game Wright played in (8-0-4). UCLA was the No. 13 seed in the NCAA tournament and suffered a 1-0 upset in the opening round to Loyola Marymount.