South Jersey Soccer: Match Preview - Albany Admirals @ Ocean City Barons Tuesday, June 21, 2005 By Paul O'Donnell Ocean City Barons Correspondent Albany comes to Ocean City with an 3-4-1 record (10pts), good for 7th in the division with an overall goal difference of -3. At this point in the season they have not won a match on the road (0-2-1 and GD -4). The Barons look to avenge their only loss on the season in game 2 at Albany. In that one the Barons lost David Daigle to injury and were not able to sub for him and had to finish the match down a man losing it in OT 1-0. Ocean City is 4-0-0 at home with a goal difference of +7. The Barons are the only team in the Northeast Division that maintains a positive goal difference for both home (+7) and away (+3) games. At this point in the season Ocean City is tied with Cape Cod with 16pts at the top of the division. The Barons have a game in hand. Cape Cod has a GD of +12, the Barons are +10. Ocean City has already defeated Cape Cod back on May 29th in what was then the deciding match for Open Cup qualification. Albany comes to town with the Barons on their best run of form on the season so far having scored 8 goals in their last two matches; a 3-0 win over the NY GA Atlas in Open Cup Round 1 and a 5-2 dominant performance over the Stingrays on Father's Day. Since their May 15 loss to the Admirals Ocean City is 4-0-1 while Albany has gone 2-3-1. Men to watch for the Barons would be Byron Carmichael who has scored 4 goals in the last three matches for 5 on the season along with 4 assists (14pts). Ruben Mingo leads the Barons with 7 goals and also has 4 assists (18pts). Tony Donatelli continues his strong play with 4 goals and 2 assists (10pts) and is always a man to keep your eyes on when he's got the ball at his feet. His last two goals have come on spectacular breakaway runs; the first in the Open Cup match when he danced around the keeper and tucked the ball in the empty net and last Sunday's skillful run and stunning finish against Rhode Island. And last week's Man of the Match, Michael Todd's play of late has been terrific. Against Rhode Island he was in the midst of almost every offensive move on the night with the opening goal and subtle touch setting Ruben in alone against the keeper the highlights. Todd is very strong in the air and his skillful flick's are a real danger to the opponents with his mates now making strong runs off Todd's skillful play adding to the offensive pressure the Barons present to the defense. Hint: when Todd is on the pitch keep your eyes on him as something good for the Barons is likely to happen when he touches the ball whether its with his feet or his head. The Barons are also looking forward to the return to the pitch of Tommy Greenawalt and Chris Willliams on the back line. Both have been sidelined with injury concerns over the last three weeks. Neil Holloway may also see some action as his injured foot has been getting stronger. He may be ready by Sunday. With this match against Albany Ocean City begins a demanding stretch of the PDL season that will see them play 9 league games between June 26 and July 24th. In addition to that there will be at least one US Open Cup match during this stretch (Wed, June 29 versus Long Island Rough Riders). There would also be another OC match on July 13 if the Barons are successful against the Riders on Wednesday night at Ocean City. Danger men for Albany for the Barons defense to mark closely are Joshua Bolton, Nicolas Cardillo, Jonathan Cook and Ryan Pierce. Abany's defense has been tough to score on so far as they have conceded only 15 goals (the Barons have allowed the fewest with 9) for the 4th best in the division. Neither team has a game in the midweek so both should be ready for a high energy match on Sunday at Carey Field. Kickoff is set for 7:30. Be there, as the Barons look to regain the top spot in the division and avenge the only loss on their season back on May 15th at Albany.