MANCHESTER, N.H. – Time will tell if Central can achieve boys’ soccer supremacy for the entire state, but they’ve now earned it in the Queen City at the very least.
Central defeated Memorial 4-0 on Friday night, their eighth clean sheet so far this season.
Despite the final score line, the Crusaders’ defense held the Little Green at bay early. Central captain Josue Assantha finally broke the deadlock seven minutes in the contest, almost adding another score halfway through the first half.
Central easily could have added several more goals by halftime with stronger finishing on the front line, a trend that continued in the second half as well. Still, with the sheer volume of opportunities the Little Green obtained, it was only a matter of time before more goals arrived.
Rahul Drukpa made it 2-0 in the 44th minute, poaching a mistimed goalkeeping disposal for an easy score, with Haris Suljevic making it 3-0 just over five minutes later.
Suljevic was perfectly positioned to capitalize on a deflected save off a shot from Paolo Tedesco, with Tedesco finding the net at the 61st minute with a clinical strike just outside of the penalty area.
Central head coach Chris LaBerge was pleased with his squad’s effort, particularly after a difficult loss to Bedford earlier in the week that dashed hopes of an undefeated season.
Still, he saw room for improvement when it came to making the most of attacking opportunities, noting that those opportunities may not be as plentiful against the state’s elite clubs.
“We got four goals, I’m happy with that, but we should have broken them down much earlier,” said LaBerge. “They are trying to keep us off the board as long as possible. I think realistically given where both programs are right now, I think they did a good job keeping us off the board. I would have liked to have done a little better job on our finishing, but eventually we got up to four, so it’s good enough for me.”
With the win, Central climbs to 13-1 on the year, finishing their regular season with road games against Alvirne on Tuesday and Timberlane on Saturday morning. Memorial falls to 2-9-2, they’ll conclude their season at home with games this week against Bedford and Alvirne.
