Friday, July 6, 2012
OCEAN CITY, N.J. -- The Ocean City Nor'easters extended their winning streak to seven games as they took a 2-1 victory against the New Jersey Rangers on Friday night at Carey Stadium. The victory extended the Nor'easters lead at the top of the Mid Atlantic Division, moving the side closer to finishing with the best record in the Eastern Conference. 
The first good chance fell to the Rangers in the 14th minute as the Nor’easters backline was robbed of the ball only for defender Patrick O’Neil to throw himself in front and block a certain goal. The Nor’easters immediately replied with a chance of their own as they piled on the pressure after a swift counter-attack saw Zoncher Dennis have his shot inside the six-yard box deflected wide.
The sides continued to trade chances, with Daniel Rasoillo's shot forcing a save from Ocean City goalkeeper John McCarthy called into action for the first time. But it would be Ocean City that struck first in the 23rd minute as Jason Plumhoff’s corner found the head of Dennis unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box to open the scoring.
The Nor'easters doubled their lead courtesy of club captain Terry Gibbs, who fired a 40-yard half-volley pass into the path of Markhus Lacroix, allowing the striker to drive from right into the penalty area. Lacroix had his shot saved, only for the rebound to fall into the path of Dennis, who headed it home. The goal was Dennis' fifth against the Rangers this season after finishing with a hat trick in the club's first meeting.
A swerving free kick from Plumhoff 10 minutes into the second half came close to adding to Ocean City's lead, only for Rangers goalkeeper Paul Killian to make the save. In warm conditions, the game slowed down in the second half as the Nor’easters condensed the play and a slew of substitutions meant the new players had to take time to get in to the game.
A quick counter-attack saw the Rangers halve the Nor'easters lead in the 66th minute as Dave Cornwell beat Jason Wells and finished coolly past McCarthy. Nor'easters coach Tim Oswald turned to his bench and bought on Alec Golini and Blake Fink for Gibbs and Plumhoff, but the Rangers pushed forward and dominated possession in the closing stages.
The game finished wide open, with Lacroix and the Nor'easters attack getting chances on the counter-attack. But while both sides had chances, the Nor'easters were able to hold on and take victory, their 11th of the season.
“This wasn’t one of the best games we have played," Oswald said. "It certainly wasn’t pretty at times but we grinded it out, showed that we have the guts to go with the skills, and got the three points at home for our fans.”
“It was a nice game, real hot," Dennis said. "My first goal was easy, I just made the run into the area and luckily I was left alone in front of goal and headed it in.
“For the second goal I knew that Duke’s [Lacroix] shot would be rebounded by the goalkeeper so I just waited and headed it in as it bounced up to me.”