Preview: Nor'easters host Baltimore in season finale needing win or draw to clinch playoffs

Bring your dog and make a donation to the local humane society to get a discount on your ticket on Sunday (5 p.m.)

Join the "Dog Days of Summer with the Nor'easters" as fans are encouraged to bring their dogs to the game and anyone who brings a pet food or toy donation for the Humane Society of Ocean City will receive a $2 discount on their ticket. Also, the Humane Society will be in attendance and they're bringing some of their furry friends who are available for adoption.

The PDL regular season will come to an end this Sunday as the hometown Ocean City Nor’easters will host the Baltimore Bohemians in an exciting winner-take-all match.

The winner of Sunday's match, which kicks off at 5 p.m. at the Tennessee Avenue Soccer Complex in Ocean City, will qualify for playoffs. If the match ends in a draw, then the Nor'easters punch their ticket to the postseason for the first time since 2013.

The match is another one of the "Dog Days of Summer with the Nor'easters" event which means fans are encouraged to bring their dogs to the game and anyone who brings a pet food or toy donation for the Humane Society of Ocean City will receive a $2 discount on their ticket. Also, the Humane Society will be in attendance and they're bringing some of their furry friends who are available for adoption.

With Sunday’s game being the last for the Nor’easters the stakes are higher than ever. The team took a tough loss the last time out against the Bohemians at Tennessee Avenue, but gained valuable knowledge on the tactics and individual players on the team. The two teams played in week 1 with Ocean City winning 3-0 on the road, but Baltimore won the second meeting in Ocean City on July 8 by the score of 2-0.

 

Join the "Dog Days of Summer with the Nor'easters" by bringing your dog to Sunday's game and anyone who brings a food/toy donation to the Humane Society of Ocean City will receive a $2 discount on their ticket.

With a convincing 3-1 bounceback win against the Jersey Express last Sunday, the Nor’easters are looking to ride the wave past the Bohemians and secure a spot in the playoffs. Chevaughn Walsh’s (Jefferson College / Spanish Town, Jamaica.) who set a new single-season club record with his 13th goal last weekend, has also spurred the team on as they look hungrier than ever. The Nor'easters have featured a number of strong performances from PDL Team of the Week selection Ryan Howe (Loyola Chicago) as well as Fraser Colmer (Radford/Southampton,England), Miguel Jaime (Pfeiffer/Denver, CO) and Daniel Nimmo (Campbellsville/Lithgow,Scotland) the Nor’easters will look to use their high pressure counter attack and midfield speed to claim all three points and propel themselves into the playoffs.

Another storyline entering Sunday's finale are some individual players who are chasing history. Walsh is currently tied for the league lead in goals and fans will be keeping an eye out for Noah Yeats of the Oklahoma City Energy Under-23s. He is currently tied with Walsh and the Fresno Fuego's Christian Chaney for the scoring title. Chaney's regular season is already complete and Yeats has one more game on Saturday against Midland/Odessa Sockers.

Nathan Regis (Pfeiffer/ Arima, Trinidad & Tobago) enters the weekend as the league leader in assists with eight. If Regis picks up one more assist, he will tie the club record for assists in a season (9 - Ruben Mingo in 2005). Sitting right behind Regis on the PDL assist leaders chart is teammate Ryan Howe. There has never been a Nor'easters player lead the league in goals or assists and there are three players who have a chance to do that. 

UPDATE: Charlotte won on Saturday night to clinch the Eastern Conference title. There is a potential scenario where both teams would qualify for the playoffs. If the Charlotte Eagles lose their season finale against the Tri Cities Otters on Saturday night (7 p.m. kickoff), and Reading United defeats Lehigh Valley United at home on Sunday night (5 p.m. kickoff), then Reading and Charlotte will be tied for the best record in the Eastern Conference. If that scenario plays out, they will have the same number of wins (10), which is the first tiebreaker, but the second is goal difference. The two teams both have a +22 entering the weekend, and obviously if Reading wins and Charlotte doesn't, United will finish with a better goal difference and will win the East. By finishing with the Eastern Conference's top record, the Mid Atlantic Division would earn an extra playoff spot, which means Baltimore and Ocean City, regardless of Sunday's result, would both get in.

The Nor’easters will look to finish up this outstanding season with a victory at Tennessee Avenue Soccer Complex in Ocean City, it’s sure to be a game of epic proportions as both teams will be battling for playoff position. Kickoff is at 5 pm this Sunday July 17.

MID-ATLANTIC DIVISION RECORD PTS GAMES LEFT
Reading United 9-3-1 28 vs. Lehigh Valley on Sunday (5 p.m.)
OCEAN CITY NOR'EASTERS 8-5-0 24 vs. Baltimore on Sunday (5 p.m.)
Baltimore Bohemians 7-4-2 23 at Ocean City on Sunday (5 p.m.)

 

 

 

 

Can't make it to Tennessee Avenue for the game?

Tune in a live audio broadcast of the game with Zach Rayment and Charlie Flowe on 91.7FM WLFR and online at WLFR.fm.

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For individual tickets, click HERE. For group tickets, email tickets@oceancityfc.com, or call the ticket office at (609) 736-4849.

For more information on the Ocean City Nor'easters or to "Follow the Storm" on social media, go to www.oceancityfc.com/followthestorm or text "FOLLOWTHESTORM" to 22828 to join the "Storm Watch" e-newsletter.

The Ocean City Nor’easters is a professionally run amateur soccer club with the focus of developing, educating and promoting soccer, health and leadership. Located in Ocean City, New Jersey, “America’s Greatest Family Resort”, the Nor’easters provide quality entertainment to families throughout the Tri-State area and the thousands of visitors every summer.

The Nor’easters organization was established in 1996 and made Carey Stadium, in Ocean City, NJ, its permanent home in 2005. Competing in North America’s top amateur league, the Premier Development League (PDL), the Nor’easters provide the highest level of soccer in Southern New Jersey. The 65-team PDL is the 4th level of soccer in the United States, below the professional leagues; Major League Soccer (MLS), North American Soccer League (NASL) and United Soccer League (USL). As part of the PDL, the Nor’easters’ have the sixth-best overall record since joining the league in 2003 and have upset five professional teams in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, third-most of any amateur team in the country. Ocean City players have the ability to compete during the summer months in a professional environment while maintaining their collegiate eligibility and pursuing their academic goals.

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