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Late goals by super sub Nicolas Cam Orellana give Nor'easters comeback win

Ocean City beats Lehigh Valley United 2-1 to remain unbeaten in first place

Late goals by super sub Nicolas Cam Orellana give Nor'easters comeback win

"The Beach House Super Sub" could be an appropriate nickname for Ocean City Nor'easters forward Nicolas Cam Orellana (Keiser Univ. / Santiago, Chile). For the third time in as many home games this season, the Chilean striker has come off the bench to score a goal to lead the Nor'easters to a win. 

On Wednesday night, Nicolas helped Ocean City with two goals in about 10 minutes to give the Storm a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Lehigh Valley United at Carey Stadium in Ocean City, N.J., America's Greatest Family Resort.

In his three home games so far this year, Cam Orellana has played 66 minutes, and has a team-leading four goals. That's a goal every 16.5 minutes.

With the win, the Nor'easters remain undefeated (4-0-1) and take sole possession of first place in the Mid-Atlantic Division. Ocean City also has a game in hand over second place West Chester United.

The victory also puts the Nor'easters one home win away from an impressive milestone in the club's 25th season. Wednesday night's win was the 99th all-time win for the club at Carey Stadium, a venue that the Storm started playing in back in its inaugural season in 1997. One more home win would reach the century mark.

"Lehigh Valley United is a tough opponent," said Nor'easters head coach Kevin Nuss. "They are organized, hard-working and committed to playing their style. Their record doesn’t reflect their ability to hurt you."

In the 5th minute, the Nor'easters put pressure on the LVU backline and produced two turnovers that led to chances. MD Myers found a shot at the top of the box that was saved by Lehigh Valley goalkeeper Cameron Hall, and Benjamin Cam Orellana had a dangerous cross cut out by LVU netminder.

Benjamin Cam Orellana, the younger brother of Nicolas, had the best chance of the half when a cross from the left wing forced Hall to swat the ball to the near side of the field. Benjamin was right there to track down the ball and fired a shot on goal but a United defender blocked the shot on the goalline to keep the game scoreless in the 9th minute.

The Nor'easters created two or three more quality chances in the first half but the Lehigh defense held strong and kept the match without a goal heading into halftime. The Nor'easters defense was also sold, holding the visitors without a quality chance.

"We struggled to find our rhythm and sharpness in the first half," said Nuss. "We didn’t impose our style in the attacking phase and that made it challenging for us."

In the second half, Alessandro Arlotti created a chance in the 50th minute, creating space at the top of the box and forcing a diving save from the goalkeeper. Less than a minute later, Rodrigo Robles dribbled in from the left wing and fired a shot right at Hall who saved it but was unable to control the rebound and his defense had to clear it away.

"The three substitutions we made at the half made a huge difference to inject energy and get back to the way we wanted to play," said Nuss. "It was unfortunate that we didn’t convert on the pressure we put them under. And then their goal hurt us but was also a wake up call and we responded well."

The first real chance of the game from Lehigh Valley came in the 65th minute and produced a goal. After earning a free kick at the top of the box, Andrei Mitran had a well-struck ball that bent around the wall and past a diving Ben Martino into the back of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. 

Lehigh kept the pressure on when just a few minutes later, Perry Kingston stole the ball and created a counter attack for United. He used his speed to get around two defenders before ending up one-on-one with Martino. The Virginia Tech goalkeeper did well to keep Kingston in front of him and when he tried to cut to his right, his touch was too strong and got away from him and appeared to fall to the ground in an attempt to draw a whistle which never came.

In the 71st minute, less than five minutes after entering the match, Nicolas Cam Orellana tied the game. Nick Pariano delivered an excellent corner kick from the left wing which found Daniel Diaz Bonilla at the far post who headed it across goal to Nicolas who was inside the six-yard box and headed it home between two defenders and the goalkeeper.

Ten minutes later, a goal kick from Lehigh's Cameron Hall was headed forward by Alessandro Arlotti at midfield and right into the path of Nicolas Cam Orellana. With two defenders on him, he let the ball bounce as they approached the 18-yard box, he then put on the brakes to create space from the defenders who had their momentum take them to Cam Orellana's left. He then re-positioned himself to a take a shot with his right foot, saw the goalkeeper was off his line and chipped the ball accurately over Hall to give the Nor'easters the lead in the 81st minute.

With that assist, Arlotti extended his point streak to five games. The Harvard forward became the first Ocean City player in history to score a goal in each of the first three games of a season, and has now had an assist in each of the last two games.

"Nicolas Cam Orellana came on late and did it again for us," said Nuss. "He showed that he’s a warrior that plays with passion for this club but has the skill to be lethal in big moments."

The Nor'easters defense would hold strong for the remainder of the match and they kept the pressure on offensively to earn the 2-1 win and give them a fourth straight win over Lehigh Valley. The result also keeps their perfect home record (7-0-0) against United intact.

Ben Martino also earned his first win as a Nor'easter, improving his record to 1-0-1.

The next game for the Nor'easters will be a rematch as they will travel to Bethlehem, Pa. this weekend to take on Lehigh Valley United on Saturday, June 11. The next home game for the Nor'easters is on Sunday, June 19 when they host Real Central New Jersey, which could potentially be the club's 100th win at the Beach House. Tickets for that game and all remaining home games can be purchased online HERE.

 

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