On Saturday night at the South Philadelphia Super Site, the Ocean City Nor’easters did something that hasn’t been done since 2004. They beat the Philadelphia Lone Star FC 4-0 to finish the regular season undefeated at 11-0-3 and a 15-game unbeaten streak dating back to last season.
Ocean City controlled the game early in the first half but were unable to find opportunities to score. They had a scoring chance in the ninth minute inside the Star’s box on a free kick, but the ball sailed over Lone Star FC’s defense and hit the crossbar. Meanwhile, Philadelphia made several attempts to score, but nothing developed. The game was scoreless at halftime.
In the second half, Ocean City forward Alessandro Arlotti scored his first goal in the 49th minute off a corner kick when Nick Pariano passed the ball to Arlotti, and he took a shot from long distance into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Arlotti scored his second goal in the 60th minute off a free kick from 30 yards away. His shot snuck by both the Philly defenders and the goalkeeper that went into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. Arlotti completed the hat trick in the 61st minute when he made an arcing shot from 35 yards into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead. He finished the season with eight goals and five assists and became the first Italian to score a hat-trick in Nor’easters history.
Finally, Ocean City scored their last goal off a penalty kick by Jeorgio Kocevski in the 63rd minute for a 4-0 lead. Goalkeeper Felix Schafer nearly broke a club record for clean sheets but was taken out in the 67th minute. It will result in a team shutout. However, Schafer broke the single-season record for goals against average (0.55), narrowly beating Pat Hannigan’s 0.56 mark set in 2004.
Next up is the playoffs, where the Nor’easters await their first-round opponent. The USL League Two playoffs begin on Friday, July 22nd.
