Ocean City Barons News Release - www.ocbarons.com
Thursday, July 30, 2009
OCEAN CITY, NJ - The Ocean City Barons and the Chicago Fire have been two of the top teams in the Premier Development League for the last seven years. Chicago is the best during that time having only lost 12 times in 116 games, while Ocean City has never had a losing record. Those two clubs will meet for the first time in the PDL Quarterfinals on Friday night in Des Moines, IA at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. The Barons and the Fire will try to take the next step toward something neither of these successful clubs have ever done: win a PDL championship.
The Barons and the Fire kick off at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday at Valley Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. The team that moves on will face the winner of the Des Moines Menace and the Cary Clarets on Saturday in the PDL Semifinals. Live updates from Friday’s game can be found on the Barons’ Twitter page at www.twitter.com/oceancitybarons. The team that emerges victorious from Des Moines will play in the PDL Championship Game on Saturday, August 8, which will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel.
The Barons are in the PDL playoffs for the fourth time in the last six years, and this is the second time they have advanced to the Quarterfinals. In 2004 they made it to the Elite Eight, only to fall on a 90th minute goal by the Carolina Dynamo. The post-season has not been kind to Ocean City over the years. While they have qualified three times prior to this season, they entered the 2009 playoffs with a 1-3 post-season record.
This year the Men In Red surpassed their all-time playoff win total with a pair of road wins against two division rivals that rank among the best teams in the PDL. They eliminated the Long Island Rough Riders 2-0 on July 22, a team that boasted the second best defense in the League. Byron Carmichael (Marshall / Lumberton, NJ) scored early and Rory McCrea (Hofstra / Leeds, England) added another in the second half, while J.T. Noone assisted on both goals. Tunde Ogunbiyi (Boston College / Gwynedd, PA) made six saves to earn a shutout in his post-season debut.
Three days later, Ocean City traveled to the Canadian capital to take on the Ottawa Fury. The Fury, one of two teams this year to finish unbeaten (12-0-4), ranked first in the PDL in goals allowed and second in goals scored out of 68 teams. After J.T. Noone (Temple / Harrisburg, PA) tied the game at 1-1 in the 60th minute, defender Tyler Bellamy (St. Bonaventure / Hammonton, NJ) scored the game-winner eight minutes into extra time to hand the Fury their first loss.
The Fire are the model of consistency, but like the Barons, they have yet to win a championship. They have never failed to qualify for the playoffs in their nine seasons, winning their division seven times. With all of those trips to the playoffs, the Fire have only advanced beyond the Quarterfinals once, when they made a run to the PDL championship game in 2003. They would host that game, but lost 2-0 to a rival of the Barons, the Cape Cod Crusaders.
Chicago found their way to Des Moines with wins over the heavily-supported expansion side FC London (Ontario) and the Great Lakes Division champions, the Kalamazoo Outrage. After a 1-0 win over London, the Fire traveled to the ’Zoo where they overcame a 1-0 deficit with a Chris Cutshaw penalty kick in the 67th minute and a game-winner by Richard Edgar in the 77th.
Much like the Barons the offense, the Fire get contributions from a variety of players. 16 different players have scored for Chicago, but leading the way is Andre Akpan with seven goals, with Cutshaw just behind him with five. Akpan, who was named to the PDL All-Conference Team, was an All-American last year at Harvard University and a Semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy as the nation’s best player. James Maurer, the Fire’s other All-Conference selection, is the starting goalkeeper for Chicago, and is ranked second in the PDL in shutouts (7) and goals against average (0.642), as well as third in the League in wins (10).
The Barons also feature a solid number one goalkeeper in Tunde Ogunbiyi, who ranks just behind Maurer in goals against average (0.76), which is the second-best GAA in Barons history. Ogunbiyi, who was the Barons’ lone representative on the All-Conference Team, is also second in the PDL with eight goals allowed in 2009. The Boston College keeper has five shutouts in League play this season, but has a playoff clean sheet (vs. Long Island) and earned two in the U.S. Open Cup against professional sides Crystal Palace Baltimore (USL-2) and the Real Maryland (USL-2).
The Ocean City offense starts with Byron Carmichael, who is enjoying the best season in his six years with the Barons. A career-high 11 goals is the high mark on the team and he also added a pair of Open Cup goals, which earned him USOpenCup.com Player of the Round honors. He also scored the game-winner against the Long Island Rough Riders last week in the opening round of the playoffs. Ryan Richter (LaSalle / Southampton, PA) ranks behind him with six goals to go along with three assists while midfielder William Swetra (James Madison / Egg Harbor, NJ) is healthy again, leading the club in assists with five.
The Barons’ first Division I All-American, J.T. Noone scored three goals and added three assists in League play, but his biggest performances have come in knockout competitions. The Temple Owl scored a goal for the Men In Red against Crystal Palace Baltimore in the Open Cup and scored the game-winning penalty kick against Real Maryland that sent the Barons to the Third Round to face D.C. United of Major League Soccer. He also assisted on both goals in the playoff game against Long Island and scored the equalizer in last weekend’s win over Ottawa.
In the other Quarterfinal matchup, the host Des Moines Menace will take on the Cary Clarets in a game that will kick off at approximately 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
The Menace were in the same position as the Barons and the Fire a few years ago. The Menace were consistently performing well, among the best teams in the PDL, but had failed to take the next step of lifting the trophy. After three straight playoff appearances that ended in heartbreak, the Menace finally broke through in 2005, winning the championship on penalty kicks against the El Paso Patriots.
Des Moines are almost known more for their fan support than their success on the field. They have led the PDL in attendance six of the last seven years, with an all-time average of just under 3,000 fans per game. They achieved their highest mark in 2004 when the club averaged 4,475 per game, a number that most professional clubs would love to have.
After a first round bye, the Heartland Divsion champions only needed one win to advance to the Quarterfinals. They defeated the Real Colorado Foxes 2-1 at their home stadium last weekend.
Des Moines, like Chicago and Ocean City, are among the best clubs in the PDL since 2003. While their franchise dates back to 1994, they are just in front of the Barons with the third best record in the League since Ocean City joined the PDL in 2003.
The Cary Clarets are playing the role of the Ocean City Barons in the other matchup on Friday night. Cary took the exact same path as the Barons to get to Des Moines, and even finished with the same regular season record (9-4-3). Cary also finished in third place in their division and needed two road wins to move on to the Elite Eight. A 3-1 win at the Carolina Dynamo last Tuesday propelled them to a meeting in Reading, PA where they met the PDL team with the best overall record and the number one offense in North America. With the score tied 1-1, the Clarets received a blow in the 68th minute when one of their players was sent off, but they were able hold the Rage until the 90th minute when Reading put the ball in their own net, shocking the home crowd.
