The Ocean City Nor’easters inched closer to immortality on Sunday night against West Chester United SC. MD Myers’ two second half goals at Carey Stadium (“The Beach House”) lifted the team to another win, 2-0, in what has been a historic season. The result completes a clean three game sweep of WCU this season across USL League Two play.

The Delran, N.J. native bookended the final 45 minutes with goals featuring impressive footwork. Head coach Kevin Nuss explained the future Rutgers Scarlet Knight is benefiting after finally slotting into his natural striker position.

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“MD has been great for us all year but we’ve been playing him out of position,” Nuss explained after the match. “We got him back into the center forward position and he delivered for us.”

Interestingly enough, Myers' goals bring his season total to four, second-most on the team. His first two came on June 4 in another 2-0 win, that time it was on the road against Reading United AC.

In total, this is the 14th straight unbeaten result for Ocean City dating back to 2021 in league play. This season alone, Coach Nuss and his boys have made Carey one of the most intimidating venues to play in across all of USL League Two. Sunday’s win marked the seventh straight unbeaten result in Ocean City, N.J., America's Greatest Family Resort, completing the full season without a loss at home. This marks the fifth time in club history that the Nor'easters have finished a regular season without a loss at the Beach House (2004, 2005, 2017, 2019, 2022).

The two team’s previous meetings had been connected by a similar thread; early goals. The first meeting on Memorial Day weekend saw the visiting West Chester score to take a quick lead at Carey Stadium. The next time the two teams met in Pennsylvania, the Predators struck again in the third minute to take control of the match.

On Sunday night, the script was being typed to match the prequels. West Chester controlled possession and pushed an aggressive style of play. Five minutes in and a set of passes around midfield eventually led to a long break by WCU top scorer Dominick Bachstein, who charged under pressure toward the net and forced OCN goalkeeper Felix Schafer to make a fingertip stop.

For his part, Schafer ended the game with his fifth shutout and ninth win as a member of the Nor’easter’s program. This is the most wins by a goalkeeper since John McCarthy in 2012.

The hard play came to no surprise for anyone familiar with the visitors or their current situation. Under head coach Blaise Santangelo, the Predators have grown into one of the Northeast’s biggest programs across both local and national leagues. This season in the league, however, their playoff hopes rest on a strong finish to the season. Since the Nor’easters have already locked up the Mid-Atlantic Division, WCU needs to finish with a good enough record to steal a wild card spot from the Chesapeake Division.

As the first half progressed on, the home side started to find more of a groove on offense. Each team exchanged shots on net but failed to capitalize. The biggest moment of the half came in the 37th minute when West Chester’s Joshua Belluz was shown a yellow. A long goal kick fell between Belluz and Myers, with the OCN player taking the lead before being grabbed from behind.

Right after the break, Myers, formerly a Hermann Trophy semifinalist at High Point University, broke out in style. A throw-in in the 49th minute found forward Alessandro Arlotti on the right side. The Italian dribbled towards the middle of the field and passed off the ball to a waiting Myers. The New Jersey native got a break as a West Chester defender fell down trying to tackle the ball away, leaving only the keeper to beat. He shot the ball towards the left post low and took the lead, 1-0.

The assist increases Arlotti's season total to five, which leads the team. The Harvard University student also leads the team in goals this season with five goals. On top of that, Arlotti’s assist was also his team-leading sixth game-winning play of 2022 (two game winning goals, four game winning assists).

From that point the home team looked in control in terms of possession but continued to struggle when it came to the final third. Myers nearly added a second goal in the 62nd minute but his scissor kick attempt was blocked by the waiting keeper, Kent Dickey.

On the other hand, the visitors nearly tied the game on a defensive lapse in the 67th minute. West Chester’s Lyam Mac Kinnon played the ball up the right side of the field. Schafer charged toward the corner of the box to meet him, giving the forward a chance to chip the ball over his head towards the net. The ball sailed toward goal, but went out of play while also missing a wide open teammate who could have tapped in the tying goal (not counting if he’d been offside).

As West Chester actively attempted to tie the game Ocean City looked to counter and seal the result. Eventually, that came in the second minute of stoppage time. With the Predators running back to their end like it was an 80s movie, Galen Flynn crossed the ball into the box where a waiting Myers stopped it dead near the penalty spot. A few quick motions set up the future Scarlet Knight for a shot towards the left post, getting just under the diving Dickey’s hand to make it 2-0 just before the final whistle.

Taking everything in, Coach Nuss was eager to praise every member of the team. Against a nationally-known opponent, his team (ranked No. 1 in USL League Two's latest power rankings) pulled out all the stops for three points.

“Great team performance tonight. Every guy played their part and pushed us to a huge result.”

Nuss, who is now unbeaten in his last 20 regular season games as a coach in USL League Two (a new club record), has one more challenge ahead of the postseason. He and the storm will travel to South Philadelphia Super Site on Saturday, July 16 to face Philadelphia Lone Star FC. If the team leaves the City of Brotherly Love with any points, they’ll make history. It would be the first time since 2004 that the team will finish the regular season undefeated.

The USL-2 playoffs begin the weekend of July 22-24. The hosts and matchups have yet to be finalized.