Ocean City Barons - Ocean City Barons: About Us

About The Barons / Club History

In 11 years, the Ocean City Barons have thrived, on and off the field

The Ocean City Barons are a soccer franchise based in Ocean City, New Jersey that competes in the Premier Development League (PDL) -- the top men’s amateur league in North America. The PDL is considered the 4th level of soccer in the United States below Major League Soccer, and the United Soccer League’s First and Second Divisions. Players have the ability to compete in the PDL throughout the summer months in a professionalized setting while maintaining their collegiate eligibility. The league is the proving ground for players that aspire to reach the highest levels of the game, while providing affordable family entertainment to the Ocean City community.

The Barons play all their home fixtures at Carey Stadium in Ocean City and benefit from the use of the newly-built athletic facilities that run adjacent to the stadium.

The Ocean City Barons have been featured on the Fox Soccer Channel, are regularly reported on in the Press of Atlantic City, Ocean City Gazette, SouthJersey.com, South Jersey Sports Online, PhillySoccerNews.com, and receive television coverage on NBC40. In addition, the club also provides live online radio broadcasts for fans to follow the team anywhere in the world.

In conjunction with the city of Ocean City, the Barons have successfully run a number of soccer camps and clinics that attract hundreds of children every year. These camps are staffed by professional coaches and players from the Ocean City PDL team. The young children in attendance at these camps get to learn from, and play with, the same players they watch while sitting in the stands cheering on the Men In Red. With success on and off the field, the club has raised the profile of soccer in the South Jersey area for over a decade.

History Of The Barons

When the club was founded in 1997, it was named the South Jersey Barons. They joined the United Soccer Leagues (USL) as a professional team, competing in the Second Division, which at the time was called the D-3 Pro League.

Year	Div.	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Open Cup
1997	3	USISL D-3 Pro League	6th, Mid-Atlantic	Did not qualify	DNQ
1998	3	USISL D-3 Pro League	1st, Mid-Atlantic	Division S-Finals	DNQ
1999	3	USL D-3 Pro League	2nd, Northern	Final	DNQ
2000	3	USL D-3 Pro League	2nd, Northern	Conference Q-Finals	DNQ
2001	3	USL D-3 Pro League	6th, Northern	Did not qualify	DNQ
2002	3	USL D-3 Pro League	4th, Atlantic	Did not qualify	2nd Round
2003	4	USL PDL	4th, Northeast	Did not qualify	DNQ
2004	4	USL PDL	1st, Northeast	Conference Finals	2nd Round
2005	4	USL PDL	2nd, Northeast	Conference Semifinals	3rd Round
2006	4	USL PDL	2nd, Northeast	Did not qualify	DNQ
2007	4	USL PDL	2nd, Mid-Atlantic	Conference Semfinals	2nd Round
2008	4	USL PDL	T-4th, Mid-Atlantic	Did not qualify	DNQ

In 1998, in only their second year in existence, the Barons won the Mid-Atlantic Division title. The next year, they followed that up with a second straight playoff appearance and a run to the USISL D-3 national championship game. On September 11, 1999, the Barons, playing the title game on the road, lost 2-1 to the Western Mass Pioneers.

The Barons made a third straight playoff appearance in 2000, but would struggle for the next three years, never finishing above fourth place in the division.

In 2004, the Barons moved to the PDL, and in their first year in the league, they made history by becoming only the fifth team ever to go through the regular season with an unbeaten record (14-0-4). They won the Northeast Division title that year, but their season came to the end in the playoffs. In the conference championship game at McPherson Stadium in Greensboro, NC, they lost to the Carolina Dynamo 3-2.

The South Jersey Barons logo from 1997 - 2004.

In 2005, the South Jersey Barons was taken over by local businessmen Russ McPaul and John Granese. Their first act as new owners was to move the Barons to Ocean City, NJ and rename the team the Ocean City Barons. The club moved into its new home at Carey Stadium on Atlantic Avenue between 5th and 6th streets. The Barons continue to benefit from the newly-built athletic facilities that run adjacent to the stadium, along with the floodlights that the city installed that allows all home games to be played in the evening.

In their first season at Carey Stadium, the club won every game in the regular season at home (8-0-0), and finished with an impressive 12-3-1 overall record. By the end of the regular season, their home unbeaten streak had reached 22 games, with their last home loss coming back on June 7, 2003 against the Vermont Voltage. The fans came out to see the Barons win that year, as the club finished with the sixth-best home attendance in the PDL. They hosted the Eastern Conference playoffs, but were upset in the conference semifinals by the Richmond Kickers Future 4-3 due to a goal in the final seconds of regulation.

2006 marked the 10th season for the Barons organization, but on the field, despite finishing with a winning record, it was considered a down year by club standards. The Barons finished with a 6-4-6 record, which was good enough for second place in the Northeast Division, and they missed the playoffs for the first time since moving to the PDL. The Barons’ home unbeaten streak finally came to an end on July 16 when they lost 2-1 to the Ottawa Fury. The home unbeaten streak, which still stands as a club record, ended at 27 games.

In 2007, long-time Ocean City High School head coach Mike Pellegrino took over the coaching duties and returned the Barons to the playoffs. Their 9-3-4 record earned them a second place finish in the Mid-Atlantic Division. Their impressive home record continued with a 6-1-1 mark and the Barons were selected by the league to host the Eastern Conference playoffs for the second time in three years. Unfortunately, the club lost in the conference semifinals to the Cape Cod Crusaders 5-0 after they had two players sent off in the opening 24 minutes of the match. (SEE "Ocean City Barons: ’07 in Review")

Since moving to Ocean City, the Barons have amassed a 27-10-11 record, including an impressive 17-3-4 regular season mark at Carey Stadium, Since 2005, they have the 5th best home record in the PDL, showing that the home fans at the shore make all the difference.

Barons In The Open Cup

Adding to their success in the league, the Barons have also qualified for the Lamar U.S. Open Cup on four occasions. They made their first appearance in 2002, their final year as a professional franchise. That year, they defeated Vereinigung Erzgebirge of the USASA 4-0 in the first round, but were eliminated in the next round 1-0 by the Hampton Roads Mariners, who played in the level above the Barons, in the A-League (now called the USL First Division).

BARONS IN THE OPEN CUP

2002 (as South Jersey Barons in D3 Pro League)

1r - v. Vereinigung Erzgebirge (USASA), 4-0

2r - v. Hampton Roads Mariners (A-League), 0-1

2004 (as South Jersey Barons in the PDL)

1r - v. Allied S.C. (USASA), 5-0

2r - v. Syracuse Salty Dogs (A-League), 2-4

2005

1r - v. NY Greek American Atlas S.C. (USASA), 3-0

2r - v. Long Island Rough Riders (USL-2), 4-0

3r - v. Richmond Kickers (USL-1), 4-8

2007

1r - v. Crystal Palace Baltimore (USL-2), 1-0
2r - v. Harrisburg City Islanders (USL-2), 1-2

In 2004, the year of their undefeated league season in the PDL, they began the tournament with a 5-0 thrashing of the USASA’s Allied SC, and once again met an A-League team in the second round. The Syracuse Salty Dogs were the club, which featured Anthony Maher, the older brother of the Barons’ Matt Maher. It was only the second time in the history of the Open Cup that two brothers played against each other in a Cup game. The original match seemed to be heading in the Barons’ direction in the 75th minute with the score tied at 1-1, and the Salty Dogs playing with nine men. Unfortunately for the underdogs, the referee abandoned the match at that point due to lightning and darkness. Six days later, the match was replayed, and despite Neil Holloway giving the Barons a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute, Syracuse was too strong, knocking the Barons out of the tournament by the score of 4-2.

The following year, the Barons made a return to the Cup and made their biggest impression in club history. They began as they had the previous two tournament appearances with a shutout win (3-0) over a USASA club, the New York Greek-American Atlas. The Barons would host their second round match against the Long Island Rough Riders of the USL Second Division, and they used their home field advantage at Carey Stadium to thrash the Rough Riders 4-0. Ruben Mingo, Tony Donatelli, Chris Williams and Steven Wacker all scored in one of the second round’s biggest upsets.

In the third round, the Barons were on the short end of a historical Open Cup match in Richmond, VA. Again, weather played a role, postponing the original game date, and a week later, the match was delayed by two hours. When the match was finally completed, the Barons had lost to the Richmond Kickers of the USL First Division, 8-4. The Kickers answered Byron Carmichael’s opening goal, with four straight tallies in the first half. Just before halftime, Carmichael cut the lead to two, and just after the break Tony Donatelli’s goal made it 4-3 in the 54th minute. However, the home side was too strong, and with the Barons pushing for an equalizer, the Kickers opened the floodgates. 12 goals was the most total goals scored in an Open Cup match since professional teams began entering the tournament in 1995. The four goals conceded by the Richmond Kickers was the most they had allowed in their Open Cup history.

After missing out on the tournament in 2006, the Barons returned to the Cup in 2007 and began at home with a 1-0 upset over Crystal Palace Baltimore of the USL Second Division. They hosted the second round as well and lost 2-1 to the Harrisburg City Islanders in one of the more exciting matches of the 2007 Open Cup. The Barons had three balls cleared off the line in the second half, but they weren’t able to equalize.

Barons Among The Best

In 2005, the Ocean City Barons were recognized during the USL Annual General Meeting for the success made since the move to Ocean City and were awarded with the "Progress Award", an award given to just one of the 114 professional and amateur teams in the USL. In 2006, the Ocean City Barons were again recognized during the USL AGM and inducted into the USL Hall of Fame as a "10+ Club", for being one of only 34 franchises in the history of the USL to have been around for 10 or more years. In 2007, the Barons’ general manager Neil Holloway was named "PDL Executive of the Year" and the Barons’ Communications department, led by public relations director and broadcaster Josh Hakala, was honored with the PDL Communications Award. For the fourth straight year, the club was honored at the USL's AGM in 2008 when they were named the PDL Organization of the Year out of the 67 teams in the league.

Barons In The Pros

The Barons have had success in helping players achieve their goal to play the game professionally. Former players currently earning a paycheck include: Jeremiah White (AGF Aarhus - Danish Superliga), Tony Donatelli (Montreal Impact), Matt Maher (New Jersey Ironmen), Chris Williams (Miami FC), Ryan Heins (Rochester Rhinos / Philadelphia Kixx), and Brian Devlin (Harrisburg City Islanders), and Jeremy Ortiz (Philadelphia Kixx). Jeremiah White has reached the pinnacle by earning his first cap with the U.S. National Team on January 19, 2008. See the "BARONS IN THE PROS" section of the website for all the latest information.