Weekend Preview - Barons at Vermont Voltage

Wednesday, July 6, 2005

By Paul O'Donnell
Ocean City Barons Correspondent

On Sat, July 9, Ocean City will face the 4th place Vermont Voltage followed by the Sun, July 10 match against the 3rd place Ottawa Fury.

Vermont has been stuck on 18pts having lost their last 3, two of them to a resurgent Albany. They will also face the Reading Rage on Friday night before the Barons come to town. Since their 4-0 win over Brooklyn the Voltage have had some difficulty finding the net scoring only 1 in two of those three losses and being shutout in the other at Rhode Island.

The Barons have been putting the ball in the net far more frequently of late scoring 13 goals in their last four league matches as well as the four in the Open Cup win over Long Island. On the season the Barons are 8-1-1 with a +15GD (+5 on the road) going into the match with the Voltage.

Vermont's recent loss at home to Albany was the first on their home ground on the season, so they've done well at home (4-1-0) and sport a +7GD with an overall 6-7-0 record with a -6GD.

If the match in Ocean City back in May was a preview (a 3-1 Barons win) this will be a stiff challenge for the Barons on Vermont's home turf.

Barons at Ottawa
July 10

On Sunday it gets even more difficult as the Barons move on to Ottawa to face the Fury one week after their inaugural meeting in Ocean City ended in a 2-1 Barons win. Ottawa, in their first season in the PDL, have assembled a talented team and are aiming to make their mark.

The Fury have proved to be a very difficult team on their home ground posting a 4-0-0 record with a +14GD (2nd only to Cape Cod's +15; the Barons are 3rd at +10 in home games). The Fury overall record is 6-4-0 and a +12GD; only the Barons and Cape Cod have won more games (8) and have a better overall goal difference (Cape Cod is +16, the Barons +15). All three are undefeated at home (as of Jul 5).

Since these two sides just played on Sunday, July 3, they will be very familiar with one another. It should be an intense match and could very well end up being a key chapter in the story of the season for both teams.

With the talented players on both sides one thing is certain; the side that finishes the chances they create in this one will make this chapter an important part of that story.