Photo: Courtesy of Ocean City Nor’easters

Nathan Regis, the NCAA Division II Player of the Year and national champion from Pfeffer University, faced his former club Charlotte Eagles in the PDL Eastern Conference semifinals with Ocean City Nor’easters on Saturday. And in the 43rd minute, his key pass set up the game-winning goal from former PSP Player of the Week Chevaughn Walsh. With the 1-0 victory, Ocean City advanced to Sunday’s Eastern Conference final against perennial rival Reading United, who had defeated Carolina Dynamo 2-1 in the other conference semifinal on Saturday.

Reading took the 1-0 lead in the conference final with a free kick goal in the 22nd minute but 12 minutes later Regis was at the center of what would prove to be the pivotal moment of the match when he was brought down in the box. While the Trinidad and Tobago native would see his penalty kick effort saved, Reading’s Mo Conde had been shown a straight red card before the penalty kick for denial of a goal scoring opportunity.

United managed to maintain their lead through the end of the half but short rest from the previous day’s semifinals began to see the tide turn against the short-handed Reading side in favor of Ocean City. In the 55th minute, Mutaya Mwape’s free kick leveled the scoreline. 21 minutes later, Mwape would assist what would prove to be the game-winning goal from Regis. Miguel Jaime would add another goal for the Nor’easters in the 89th minute before an Ocean City breakaway in the third minute of stoppage time ended with Regis scoring the final goal in the 4-1 victory.

It was, as the match report on the Ocean City Nor’easters website described, “the icing on the cake.”

Regis led the team with 9 assists in the regular season (according to the Ocean City website; the league website has him with 8 assists) to tie a club record, seven of which set up goals from Chevaughn Walsh, who led the league with 14 goals, which was also a new regular season high for the Nor’easters. Meanwhile, Regis has scored six goals of his own making him third highest on the list of the team’s goalscorers.

With a key pass, drawing a decisive foul, and two goals, Nathan Regis continued to make the same kind of important contributions in the postseason in Ocean City’s path to the Eastern Conference title that he has throughout the regular season, and that’s why he’s PSP’s Player of the Week.

He’ll have a chance to contribute further on Saturday when Ocean City hosts Western Conference champions Calgary Foothills FC in the national semifinals.

PSP Player of the Week Awards, 2016 Season
Nathan Regis (7/26)
Chris Pontius (3/15, 7/19)
Ilsinho (7/12)
Chevaughn Walsh (7/6)
Roland Alberg (6/21, 6/28)
Brian Carroll (4/26, 6/1)
Richie Marquez (5/24)
Keegan Rosenberry (5/17)
Sebastien Le Toux (4/19)
Tranquillo Barnetta (4/11)
C.J. Sapong (3/22)
Andre Blake (3/8)