Preview: Nor'easters host FA New York at the Beach House on Sunday night

After a scoreless draw with New York Red Bulls Under-23s on Friday, Ocean City hosts FA Euro New York on Sunday night

Preview: Nor'easters host FA New York at the Beach House on Sunday night

The Ocean City Nor'easters kick off an important weekend with a pair of home games at Carey Stadium ("The Beach House") against division rivals. On Friday night, the Nor'easters will host the New York Red Bulls Under-23s, followed by a Sunday night matchup with FA Euro New York. Both games will kickoff at 7 p.m.

The Red Bulls match was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was recently moved to Friday.

The two games this weekend are the first of four straight at the Beach House as the Nor'easters look to make a late-season playoff push. They enter the weekend with a 2-3-2 record, but are just six points behind the Long Island Rough Riders who currently sit in second place. The top two teams in the division qualify for the postseason.

The Nor'easters are optimistic about their chances of making the playoffs as they will play six of their final seven league games in front of their home fans at the Beach House.

The Red Bulls are 3-3-1 and have bounced back after a slow start. After losing three of their first four games, they have been undefeated in their last three games (2-0-1), including a 2-2 home draw with the Nor'easters on Wednesday, June 12.

Kwesi Allen (Drexel / Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) and Leon Maric (St. Joseph’s / Gilbertsville, PA) each scored first half goals to give Ocean City an early 2-0 lead, but the Red Bulls answered with goals from Jonathan Filipe and Brian Saramago to tie the game.

The Red Bulls U23s, joined Lehigh Valley as another team that enjoyed success in the NPSL (winning the league title in 2014) and left to join USL League Two. However, unlike United, the Red Bulls continued their success into USL League Two, winning a pair of division titles, qualifying for the playoffs (three times) and reaching the league championship game in 2015. The Nor'easters have a history with the Red Bulls outside of league play, as Ocean City defeated them in the First Round of the 2013 US Open Cup when New York was part of the NPSL. Last year, the Nor'easters hit the goal post four times in a 3-1 road loss early in the season and earned a 1-1 draw at home. With the draw last week, the Nor'easters still lead the all-time series 4-3-3 and have yet to lose to the Red Bulls at the Beach House (3-0-2). 

On Sunday, the Storm will host FA Euro New York in the second meeting of the season between the two clubs. In the first meeting in the season opener back on May 18, Daniel Twizer scored the opening goal of the game for Ocean City in the 80th minute, only to see FA Euro equalize three minutes later. It was the first time that the Nor'easters had dropped points against FA Euro in nine all-time meetings (8-0-1). Last year, Ocean City swept FA Euro with a 2-1 road win, and a 5-0 home win that saw Alex Rose score a hat trick and earn Player of the Week honors. 

FA Euro enter Sunday's game with a 2-4-4 record. After snapping a seven-game winless streak (0-3-4) on June 15 with a 4-3 home win over Lehigh Valley United, the club lost to the Long Island Rough Riders on the road, 4-1. 

This is the third straight year for FA Euro New York in the Mid-Atlantic Division. The club made it's USL League Two debut in 2013 and last year, they finished in fifth place (their best finish in the club's short history) for the second year in a row.

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