The Ocean City Nor’easters will be taking on the Trenton Rebels of the Central Jersey Soccer League in a mid-season friendly on June 28th at Carey Stadium.

The Ocean City Nor’easters will be taking on the Trenton Rebels of the Central Jersey Soccer League in a mid-season friendly on June 28th at Carey Stadium.

“Ocean City is an established organization with elite talent,” said President and Founder of the Trenton Rebels, Luke Mrzljak. “It’s a great opportunity for us to gauge how our club has grown after being established last May and see how we match up against one of the best teams on the east coast.”

Trenton is led by Thomas Edison State College graduate, Luke Mrzljak. As President of both the Trenton Rebels and the CSSL, Mrzljak established the Rebels in January of 2014 and hasn’t looked back.

Trenton currently sits atop the table in the CSSL, undefeated in league play with a record of 9-0-2. Their CSSL campaign started off with seven straight wins in 2014 followed by two more wins and two draws so far in 2015 putting them strongly in control of the league with 29 points. Somerdale FC serves as their closest competitor holding second place on 19 points.

The Rebels have enjoyed recent success over the past few months outside of the CSSL in friendlies against Junior Lone Star FC of the Philadelphia Sierra Soccer League and the Electric City Shock of the National Premier Soccer League both which saw the Rebels come out on top on.

The first win of their two non-league games came against Junior Lone Star FC thanks to a brace from Rowan University sophomore midfielder Vinny Ignatowicz. Trenton’s second win of the season came away at Misericordia University against Electric City Shock thanks to goals from veteran Joel Marshall and former Rowan University forward Dylan Smith.

“Trenton is an up and coming program that has shown the ability to develop players and create quality teams,” said Ocean City Nor’easters General Manager, Kevin Nuss. “They are a true development based club that is growing the talent in their local area and we admire that.”

Even though the Rebels have a short history, they do however have history with Ocean City. The two New Jersey clubs have squared off twice before, the first coming last June in a friendly and the second this past November. In their November meeting at Rutgers-Camden Community Park, Ocean City came out on top with a 3-1 win.

“Our side has really developed since playing Ocean City this time last year but our coaching staff has done a good job of implementing a playing style that can translate to any new player,” said Mrzljak. “Some players believe that a “utility player” or player that can play many different positions is a curse. However, this is an attribute our coaching staff admires. Our boys do a really good job of moving the ball up and down the pitch with pace, with every player working box to box.”

Ocean City has started league play to mixed results. The Nor’easters kicked off their season with a 3-1 loss to D.C. United U23, before defeating the New York Redbulls U23s 3-1 on the road. This past Saturday the Nor'easters fell to Reading, 2-0, in a tightly contested affair.

Ocean City and Trenton are geared towards the development of N.J. soccer. Both clubs have installed U23 sides as well as reserve squads to add to their ongoing development of players.

 “We want to work together and help grow New Jersey Soccer,” said Nuss.

2015 Individual Match and Season ticket packages are on sale now. For more information, call (609) 432-8271 to speak with a Nor'easters ticket representative, email us at tickets@oceancityfc.com, or visit www.oceancityfc.com/tickets for ticket package information.

Text "TRENTON" to (609) 432-8271 to receive an exclusive promo code, for ticket purchases made online via www.oceancityfc.com/tickets.

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