Memorial boys roll past Spaulding, 4-0, pick up 8th win of the season

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MANCHESTER, NH — Memorial High showed off its offensive depth, en route to a 4-0 win over Spaulding, Thursday night at Chabot-McDonough Field.

After a sluggish first half, the Crusaders were able to break the game open with three goals in the first 16 minutes of the second half.

Seniors Dollby St. Louis and Payton Auprey each had a goal and an assist to lead Memorial. Seniors Artur Moura and Nowras Mostafa also scored. Keeper Sergio Teruel notched his fifth shutout on the season.

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After a mini-slump with losses to Central and Nashua South, the Crusaders have won two in a row to improve to 8-3-0 on the season. Memorial sits in sixth place in the crowded Division I standings, with every team having at least two losses.

Still, despite the Crusaders’ improved play this week, Head Coach Jerold White wasn’t ready to say his team was back on track.

“I don’t know. We’re up and down,” said White. “We want to be consistent and if we start to be consistent in a couple of games, maybe. We started this game strong and then, after the first five minutes, we went down a little bit, then came back in the second half.”

Auprey scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, just 1:46 into the game. A few minutes later, Omar Anguiano Chavez set up Flores Osvaldo with a beautiful crossing pass but Spaulding keeper Eli Benjamin came up with a sensational save.

 

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After that, Memorial seemed to go flat for the rest of the half. White said his players can sometimes fall into the trap of relying too much on individual skills instead of quick passes that widen the field and open attack lanes.

“Sometimes they have the ball and start to think, ‘I can beat this guy,’ but what they don’t realize is that pretty quickly there is another guy coming up on them from behind.,” said White.

Memorial came out for the second half with a renewed focus and the results were immediate. After putting just two shots on net in the first half, the Crusaders began peppering Benjamin in the Spaulding net. St, Louis made it 2-0 with a goal in the 44th minute, set up by a crisp passing sequence from Tyler Telge and Auprey.

“Our guys need to be communicating. We need to be moving the ball around and talking to each other,” said White.

Moments later, Benjamin (6 saves) stoned Moura on a clean bid but it only postponed the inevitable. In the 53rd minute. Moura controlled slick lead pass from St. Louis, used his body to shield the ball from a defender and deftly placed a shot past Benjamin into the far corner.

Spaulding (3-7-0) had its moments but had no luck beating Teruel.  Red Raider striker Cameron Brochu made several strong runs but came up empty as shots either went wide or over the net. Trailing 3-0, Spaulding’s best scoring bid came in the 55th minute. Logan Crosby lost his defender, cut in from the left wing and rifled a shot that seemed destined for the upper corner of the goal. But Teruel had a clean view and made a sensational leaping, double-fisted save to preserve the shutout.

Memorial closed the scoring in the 57th minute with a bit of good fortune. Mostafa blasted a shot from 30 yards that deflected off a Spaulding defender and re-directed past Benjamin, pushing the lead to 4-0.

Memorial will get some well-deserved time off before hosting winless Keene High (0-9-1) on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m.

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About this Author

Bill Gilman

Bill Gilman is a veteran journalist with 35 years of experience covering community news and sports in New England. He and his wife have two grown sons and two perfect granddaughters.

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