Ocean City is one win away from the PDL championship game and tickets are now on sale.
The Premier Development League Eastern Conference champion Ocean City Nor’easters will play the Western Conference champion Calgary Foothills FC in the PDL Semifinals on Saturday. The Nor’easters will host the match at the Tennessee Avenue Soccer Complex in Ocean City as the club is hoping the home field advantage can help them advance to the PDL championship game.
Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets to Saturday's Semifinal match are now on sale at the Ocean City Nor'easters website here. Ocean City is coming off a successful week at the PDL Eastern Conference playoffs this past weekend, defeating three division champions to earn a spot in the PDL's final four. It began on Tuesday, July 19 when the Nor'easters traveled to Maine and defeated the Northeast Division champions GPS Portland Phoenix, 3-1. PDL scoring champion Chevaughn "Chevy" Walsh added another goal to his impressive resume and set up a Nathan Regis goal to lead the way. On Saturday, the connection that’s been working all year for the Storm worked again as Regis found Walsh with a pass in the 43rd minute to give the team a 1-0 win over the Charlotte Eagles in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The next day, in a hard-fought conference championship game, they defeated rival Reading United, 4-1. The goals came from Mutaya Mwape, Miguel Jaime and Nathan Regis, who scored twice. The win put the Nor'easters in the PDL Semifinals for the first time since 2013. The weekend performance earned Regis the Player of the Week award from The Philly Soccer Page. The Nor’easters' opponent on Saturday will be the Calgary Foothills FC. The Foothills are coming off winning the Western Conference's Northwest Division with an 8-3-3 record this season. Dominic Russo, who is ranked No. 25 in the PDL's Top Prospect list, led the team with six goals this year and Darius Ramsey leads them with three assists. Among all of the division winners in the PDL, Calgary have scored the fewest goals (22 in 14 games). Their strength is their defense with goalkeeper Dylon Powley leading the way with 46 saves and a 0.82 goals against average. The Foothills were founded in 1972, but are just a second-year PDL club. Their road to the final four began at home where they defeated the Seattle Sounders Under-23s 3-1, a team that has reached the National Semifinals twice in the last four years. Calgary then hit the road and traveled more than 1,600 miles to Tucson, Ariz. for the Conference Semifinals. After a 1-0 win over the high-scoring FC Golden State Force, the Foothills had to face off with the host FC Tucson. This was no small task as FC Tucson ran away with the Western Conference regular season title with an 11-1-2 record and, along with FC Golden State Force, had by far the conference's biggest offense with 38 goals scored (+26 goal difference). But thanks to Russo's third goal in as many playoff games, and a late game-winner by Dominick Zator, Calgary punched their ticket to the PDL Semis. The Foothills will now have to travel more than 2,400 miles to Ocean City, NJ and take on another high-scoring offense in the Nor'easters (36 goals scored, +15 GD) on their home field at the Tennessee Avenue Soccer Complex. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern Time.
--------------------------------------
For individual tickets, click HERE. For group tickets, email [email protected], 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.
