The Ocean City Nor’easters square off with the West Chester Flames on Sunday night at Carey Stadium.  The game will kickoff at 6 PM.

With just two games left in the season, the Nor’easters are still looking for their second win.  They are currently in second to last place in the Mid Atlantic division with a record of 1-6-7.  Their only win of the season came against the last place Brooklyn Knights on June 22.

At this point in the season, the Nor’easters are looking to give playing time to some of the younger prospects on the team.  In their last game, Ocean City coach Neil Holloway called upon Nicolas Tierno and Mitchell Grotti from the Nor’easters U-23 team to play in their first ever PDL game.  Grotti started the match in the midfield, and Tierno made a huge impact off the bench.  Tierno was subbed into the match in the 57^th minute after the New Jersey Rangers scored two goals in 30 seconds to take a 2-1 lead.  In the 52^nd minute, Mark Leslie played a ball back to keeper Pat Hannigan, but Hannigan whiffed on the clearance and the ball rolled into the back of the Ocean City net for an own goal.  The Rangers took the lead 30 seconds later, but Tierno answered with his first PDL goal in the 69^th minute to tie the game.  Neither team was able to notch a third goal for a victory, sending both teams home with one point.  The Nor’easters will look to give more time to future prospects as they look to rebuild from a very disappointing 2011 season.

West Chester enters Sunday’s match in fourth place in the league with a 5-6-2 record.  On June 29, Ocean City and West Chester battled to a 1-1 tie in West Chester.  Terry Gibbs scored the equalizer in the 83^rd minute to give the Nor’easters their sixth tie of the season.  After nearly scoring the equalizer in the 68^th minute, Byron Carmichael again almost tied the match in the 83^rd minute, but his shot was kept out of the net by a handball, which resulted in a penalty kick and an ejection.  Gibbs calmly finished the penalty, but the Nor’easters could not get the winning goal despite being up a man due to the red card on the handball.  Sunday’s match should be very competitive just like most of Ocean City’s matches this season.

West Chester has been solid on the attacking side of the ball scoring 19 goals this season.  However, their attack is entirely one-dimensional.  Jake Keegan leads the PDL in goals with 13, and he is fourth in the PDL with 27 points.  If Ocean City can shut down Keegan, they should be able to handle the rest of the West Chester attack that has had limited production all season.  On the defensive end, West Chester has struggled, allowing 28 goals in 13 games.  The Nor’easters should be able to take advantage of a suspect defense.

The Nor’easters will play their last game of the season against the Brooklyn Knights on Sunday, July 24 at Carey Stadium.  Come support the Nor’easters in their final two home games of the season.