Preview by: George Diamond

The Ocean City Nor’easters took care of business Friday night with a 3-0 win against the Lehigh Valley United Rush in USL League Two. With the win, Ocean City stays atop the Mid-Atlantic Division and improves to a 7-0-0 record for the first time in franchise history. Now the Storm have a quick turnaround as they return to action on Sunday night against the red hot Real Central New Jersey.

The game will kickoff at 7 p.m. at Carey Stadium ("The Beach House") in Ocean City, N.J., America’s Greatest Family Resort.



Single-game tickets for Nor'easters home games can be purchased for $10 each. The easiest way to purchase tickets is to buy them online through the Nor'easters website (OceanCityFC.com). Tickets can also be purchased at the Carey Stadium gate either with cash or with a smartphone.

For fans unable to make it out to the Beach House, the Nor'easters are continuing to partner with BFA Productions to provide a live video stream through the digital streaming platform Sports Engine. There will also be live updates provided on the Nor'easters' Twitter/X account and Instagram.

After a challenging start to the season, RCNJ have rebounded and enter Sunday's match in prime position to qualify for the USL-2 playoffs for the first time. The top two teams in the Mid-Atlantic Division will punch their ticket to the postseason and RCNJ are now one point behind second place West Chester United in the standings. They are tied with Reading United for third place in the table. RCNJ started the season with only one win from their first four games, including a 3-0 defeat by OC in Lawrence Township, N.J. back May 29. However, they will arrive at the Beach House on Sunday riding a three-game winning streak, headlined by a 1-0 home win over West Chester United this past Wednesday.

Villanova forward Luke Pompliano is the danger man for RCNJ. He leads the team in scoring having scored three of the team’s 12 total goals.

Real Central NJ will have to shore up their defense tonight as they have allowed 14 goals in eight games. They will face a Nor'easters offense that leads the division in scoring with 21 goals in seven games. Despite only having played 3 home games at this point in the season, 10 of those goals came at Carey Stadium. Additionally, they have still only conceded 3 goals all season, never more than a single tally in a game, totaling four clean sheets in all.

The all-time series leans heavily in favor of Ocean City with the Storm leading 6-0-3. They have outscored RCNJ 20-to-3. However, the recent games have been close. Five of the last seven meetings have been decided by a single goal or finished in a draw.

Fans may remember the first time these teams met in 2024 back on May 29. After a thunderstorm-induced weather delay, Ocean City’s players achieved a number of personal firsts. Colin Veltri (Elon / Mays Landing, NJ), Agustin Resch (Seton Hall / Arata, Argentina), and Theo Da Silva (Univ. of Rio Grande / São Paulo, Brazil) all scored their first goals. Netminder Nathanael Sallah (Nebraska-Omaha / Hamburg, Germany) kept his first clean sheet in his OCN debut.