Long Island Rough Riders News Release -- www.liroughriders.com
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
PLAINVIEW, N.Y. -- The Long Island Rough Riders will host the Ocean City Nor’easters on Wednesday night at Cy Donnelly Stadium. Kicking off at 7 p.m., the undefeated Rough Riders will try to bring the first loss to the 2012 Mid Atlantic Division Champions. 
The Rough Riders traveled to Central Jersey this past weekend and brought home three points after defeating the Central Jersey Spartans 4-2. After a difficult first half, Ben Arikian and Stephan Barea gave the Rough Riders a 2-1 lead. Kevin Knowles secured the Rough Riders’ win with two goals in his first appearance for the team.
The Rough Riders are currently in fifth place in the Mid Atlantic Division, only three points behind division leader Reading United AC, with a game in hand. The Rough Riders are eager to continue their winning streak and improve their position in the division.
The Ocean City Nor’easters are continuing where they left off in the 2012 season with dominant performances thus far. The Nor’easters are undefeated in the division (4-0-1) and have played challenging teams early such as the Baltimore Bohemians, Jersey Express and Reading United.
This past weekend Ocean City battled against Reading United for the top spot in the division. Forward Anthony Asante scored in the last minute of the first half to give the Nor’easters the lead going into halftime. The game was equally matched with both sides creating goal scoring opportunities. With four minutes left in the match, former Ocean City player Jason Plumhoff headed the ball into the back of the net off of a cross from the flank ending the game in a 1-1 draw.
Ocean City has a dominant attacking force with forwards Asante, Zoncher Dennis and Frank Tweneboa consistently scoring goals. Asante, Dennis and Tweneboa have a combined total of eight goals in the 2013 season. The Rough Riders will have to be focused on defense to shut down the forwards from valuable chances.
Long Island and Ocean City met once in the 2012 PDL season at Cy Donnelly Stadium. On June 27th, the Nor’easters narrowly defeated the Rough Riders 2-1. Keith Detlj scored in the 39th minute to give the Rough Riders the lead. Just five minutes later the Nor’easters came back when forward Emmanual Kollie shot 30 yards out past the Rough Riders keeper Tommy Booth. Ocean City came out firing at the start of the second half when Dennis beat Booth and scored in an empty net. The rest of the match was even with both teams creating opportunities but the Rough Riders could not capitalize.
The Rough Riders are anticipating an intense match as both teams are in the running for one of three playoff spots. Tickets are available for purchase online at www.liroughriders.com/tickets or at the Rough Riders ticket box on game day (box opens 60 minutes before kick-off).