MANCHESTER, NH — Tyler Telge scored one goal and assisted on another, helping No. 7 Memorial High top No. 10 Winnacunnet, 3-0, in the opening round of the Division 1 State Tournament, Wednesday night at Chabot-McDonough Field.
The Crusaders (12-4-1), plagued by inconsistent play at times this season, brought their ‘A’ game, dominating the Warriors from the opening whistle. Memorial held a 12-1 edge in shots and a 4-0 edge on corners in the first half, en route to a 2-0 lead.
“There weren’t a lot of mistakes today, so that was good, especially in the back,” said Memorial Coach Jerold White. “We struggled a little bit in the middle to get it out but there weren’t a lot of mistakes on our part today, so that was appreciated.”
Memorial advances to the D-I quarterfinal round, travelling to Stellos Stadium on Sunday to take on No. 2 seed Nashua South (14-3-0). The teams met once during the regular season, with Nashua South earning a 2-0 win on Sept. 26.
Memorial broke on top in the 13th minute, taking advantage of a corner. Telge lofted a perfectly placed kick to the far side of the net, where Merim Husanovic headed it home for a 1-0 lead.
Merim Husamovic heads home @Crusaders_Athl ‘s first goal, off a corner kick by Tyler Telge, in Memorial’s 3-0 win over @Winnawar in the opening round of the D-I State Tournament.@ManchInkLink @nhsportspage @nhhssports pic.twitter.com/cDxbwLzwtu
— Bill Gilman (@bgilman66) October 27, 2022
Winnacunnet keeper Tanyon Ziolkowski (9 saves) managed to keep his team in the game, making a series of excellent saves, as Memorial pressed the attack.
Meanwhile, the Crusaders’ defensive backfield of Husanovic, Nick Lodding, Thomas Egan and Joshua Socuy played brilliantly, making life fairly easy for keeper Sergio Teruel. Throughout the first half, Winnacunnet was unable to get clean looks at the net, as its forwards were tightly marked at every turn.
Memorial doubled its lead in the 37th minute. Telge launched a beautiful, arching shot from more than 35 yards, which found the back of the net, just under the crossbar.
“We weren’t selfish when we needed to be selfish. I kept yelling to them, ‘be selfish!’ and the Telge hits it from like 35 yards out,” said White.
With its season on the line, Winnacunnet came out for the second half with a sense of urgency and desperation. The Warriors brought more players into the attack zone and were finally able to generate some scoring chances. They had an excellent chance to cut the Memorial lead in half in the 63rd minute but Teruel made a diving save on a bid by Willem Belanger.
As the game progressed, Winnacunnet showed signs of fatigue and play began to get chippy. Both teams were hit with yellow cards and Winnacunnet lost a player to a red card. Through it all, the senior-laden Memorial squad maintained its composure and were able to finish strong.
In the 68th minute, the Crusaders added an insurance goal off a corner kick. The ball pinballed in front of the net, when both teams suddenly stopped playing after an apparent Winnacunnet handball. However, the violation was missed, the whistle never blew and Artur Moura had the presence of mind to kick the ball into the open net to make it 3-0.
