Friend networks can come in handy when you’re looking for work, roadtripping cross-country or need help moving. But as Ocean City Nor’easters showed in their First Round win in the U.S. Open Cup last week, they can also help you survive and advance in America’s oldest soccer tournament.
“I have one friend, actually the one who scored the first goal, he's also Peruvian, I’ve played with him all my life,” forward Piero Sabroso explained when asked how he ended up playing with the Nor’easters in their 3-1 Cup win over West Chester United. “We're friends, we study together and he told me, ‘hey, you want to play; there’s a coach who needs some players.’ And I was like, ‘yeah, let's play, let's see what happens.’”
After agreeing to join up, Sabroso, who started up front for the Nor’easters that day against the men from West Chester, made some phone calls and head coach Matt Perrella’s team started to fill out just days before the game played at YSC Sports near King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
One Call Then Another…
“I told a friend and my friend told a friend, and we ended up being a mix of players from all over,” Sabroso said of the method necessary for a USL League Two team, whose season won’t begin until May, to pull in the numbers needed to survive the first few Rounds of the Open Cup.
Sabroso was one of four players from Bethel University in Indiana to join the Nor’easters for the 2023 Open Cup. All four – Sabroso, Andres Latorre, Andre Sabino and Joao De Oliveira – were part of a team that had just won the NAIA National Championship with the Pilots in December.
The Bethel players joined several players from local Eastern Premier Soccer League team Oaklyn United, some Ocean City alums and a couple others from the NAIA and junior college ranks to fill out a squad that had less than a week to prepare.
It was no surprise that Coach Perrella, a goalkeeper and graduate of Rider University, reached out to the NAIA ranks. “It’s a unique channel to tap talented guys,” said the New Jersey native, 31, who took over the Nor’easters this year. “We’re just trying to get a team together and get a positive result. The Open Cup is weird, and you never know what’s going to happen.”
