Quality Players Continue To Commit To Ocean City Nor'easters
The latest players to make the cut are defender Paul Ehrenworth of West Virginia University, midfielders Robert Crowley of Rollins University and Nate Bourdeau of Rutgers University. Forwards Thomas Obasi of Central Connecticut and Jason Wells of Farleigh Dickinson University, goalkeeper John Fogarty of Villanova completes this lineup.
After months of deliberation, tryouts and scouting adventures the Ocean City Nor’easters have almost completed their 2012 USL PDL roster. There is some real quality amongst the ranks and the final group of players are more than capable of making a bid for a starting position.
The last players to make the cut are defender Paul Ehrenworth of West Virginia University, midfielders Robert Crowley of Rollins University and Nate Bourdeau of Rutgers University. Forwards Thomas Obasi of Central Connecticut and Jason Wells of Farleigh Dickinson University, goalkeeper John Fogarty of Villanova completes this lineup.
Paul Ehrenworth was an All-State, All-County and All-Conference defender when he left Princeton High. With his freshman year down he is ready to come to the PDL in the summer to up his game and make his mark on the great WVU program. Coach Oswald loves his experience, “Paul opted to leave Red Bull to play for us and brings his Big East experience with him. Paul is an extremely steady back that does the small things well and the big things even better. Playing along side of an All-American and MLS drafted player this past season at West Virginia will hopefully show him that playing and having an impact at the next level isn’t far off. I think he has a huge upside.”
Robert Crowley plays his college soccer at Rollins University in Florida is a player who has seen his early college career hit with injury but Coach Oswald is confident he will return better than before “Rob is a very sound player in the midfield 3rd as a central player. Clearly, he could have excelled at the D1 level, but chose to leave the suburbs of Philly for the sunny weather down in Florida. He was exceptional at the tryout we hosted in the winter and immediately caught the eye of the coaching staff. He is gritty, he attacks, he defends, and he works hard. He will become part of a strong MFD core and will chip in for sure.”
Goalkeeper John Fogarty is another player who has seen injury hamper his progression. His High School career and awards that came with them show the talent he has. A Three-year letter winner, two-year starter and first team all Cape Atlantic league in 2006 and 2007 at Ocean City High School. Selected first team all South Jersey as both a junior and senior year. Also named first team all state in his final two seasons as Ocean City captured the South Jersey titles from 2005-07. He is now injury free and ready to fulfill his potential after a great Villanova season says Coach Oswald “John has experience at the PDL level and is a local OC boy who not only excelled in HS, but he also has begun to have a fair share of success at the collegiate level. He had a phenomenal season this past year in helping Villanova advance deep into the Big East tournament with the program’s 1st 2 wins in tourney play over USF and Notre Dame. With one year still left with the Wildcats, we hope to continue his development in a strong corps of GK’s to further enhance his chances of taking his team to the NCAA tournament next year.”
Nate Bourdeau is a Senior at Rutgers University and will be bringing all of his experience to the shore. After a Freshman season at Boston College he transferred to Rutgers where he excelled. He was a highly talented youngster and he was able to reproduce that on the college stage earning All-Region & All-State Section 3 First Team at CW Baker High School. His experience will be valuable to the younger players throughout this tough PDL campaign. Coach Oswald says "We are super excited about the signing of Nate. I have spoken on and off again for quite some time with Coach Donigan about him and we are so happy he decided to cap of his career at RUTGERS (after starting at Boston College) and 3rd team All-Big East performance with us. He played a huge role in Rutgers run this year to the Sweet 16 and did a phenomenal job in the midfield for them and scored some big goals in huge situations. We are sure he will bring the same mentality to us this summer and will be a great mentor to some of our younger players."
Englishman Thomas Obasi is a big, quick, intelligent, skillful player. One of these attributes is good to have as a soccer player but to combine all of them means you have a great player on your hands. Obasi is a standout for Central Connecticut University, not just because of his 6’3" frame but because of the space he creates and his ability to bring others into the game. As part of the England National Futsal program he has great skills and an eye for goal. This will be clear to see once the PDL season begins. Coach Oswald has plenty of great things to say about our latest foreign signing, "Thomas is just an out and out fun player to watch when the ball is at his feet. In his 1st season at CCSU, he scored some big time goals as a wide player en route to being named 1st team All-NEC and NSCAA Regional All-American. We feel he as the ability to collect points in bunches and are hopeful that he can fill the goal up and service some phenomenal balls in the final 3rd."
Jason Wells is a strong defender who has helped Division I school Fairleigh Dickinson University to the NEC Tournament. Wells continues to pick up awards including being named All-Conference second team, NEC All-Tournament squad, third team NSCAA All-North Atlantic member and, apart from an injury in 2010, has started every game through his college career. This is a very impressive feat coming out of a competitive and physically tough division. His toughness and desire to win will be a great asset for the 2012 Nor’easters. "Jason is a former player and starter at NJ Rangers PDL for the past 2 seasons and has started every one of his career games at FDU as a rising RedShirt Senior. He is strong, excellent distributor of the ball, solid vocal leader, athletic and extremely fast central defender that played at Red Bull Academy as a youngster. Jason can play any of the 4 back positions and is a phenomenal 1v1 defender. We are very excited to add him to our squad."
This lineup virtually completes the Ocean City Nor’easters roster for the 2012 USL PDL season and the coaching staff and players couldn’t be happier with the assembled squad. The anticipation is building on the Jersey Shore for the Ocean City Nor’easters to have their best season ever.
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