Memorial boys, thriving at Granite State Games, have high hopes this fall
Jun. 26—CONCORD — Despite his program's recent struggles, Merim Husanovic and his Manchester Memorial boys soccer teammates never doubted they could be an NHIAA Division I title contender.
Last fall, two years after failing to make the division's 15-team playoff field, the Crusaders went 11-2-3 and entered the D-I tournament as the No. 4 seed last season under new coach Jerold White. Thirteenth-seeded Portsmouth upset Memorial, 3-2 on penalty kicks, in the first round.
Husanovic and his fellow soon-to-be senior classmates including Tyler Telge will look to build on that standout campaign this fall.
"Our last couple years, we haven't been that team that we wanted to be and we knew we could be that team," Husanovic said before playing for the Southern Region in the Granite State Games' championship game last Thursday at NHTI. "It's just that we needed that kind of breakthrough and (last) season we got it."
Husanovic, a back, Telge, a midfielder, and classmate Brian Jolicoeur, one of Memorial's goalkeepers, helped the Southern Region defeat Monadnock Region in the final after 10 penalty-kick rounds and a scoreless regulation and overtime period.
Telge led Southern in goals (two) in the tournament and scored the game-tying goal in Southern's 1-1 semifinal draw against Coastal Region that clinched its spot in the final.
The Granite State Games, an Olympic-style event featuring high school athletes from across the state competing in various sports on regionalized teams, is sponsored in part by the New Hampshire Union Leader.
The Southern team, led by Manchester Central assistant coach Gary Lorusso, consisted mostly of Memorial, Central and Trinity players.
"The Granite State Games, I think it's allowed me to meet with a lot of different players from different schools that I usually don't get to play with and build connections between schools," said Telge, who also played for Southern last summer. "Like, the Memorial and Central kids usually don't play together and this allows us to team up and kind of get used to playing with each other."
Telge said he expects traditional Division I contender Central and Memorial to both be strong this upcoming season.
Central fell, 1-0 on penalty kicks, to eventual runner-up Hanover in the semifinals after a 14-1-1 regular-season run last year.
The Crusaders graduated five seniors but return plenty of veteran experience. Memorial had 12 juniors and four sophomores on last year's team.
Telge recorded six goals and 16 assists last season. Husanovic, an All-Division I Second Team selection, and Jolicoeur's defensive efforts helped Memorial limited foes to 12 regular-season goals. The team posted seven shutout wins.
"I think we learned to play as a team," Telge said. "We were all individual players the year before (last fall) and playing as a team helped us get very good wins and lots of ties."
With the experience they gained last season and having played a full campaign under White, the Crusaders are primed to take another step forward, Husanovic said.
Memorial last reached the Division I championship game in 2016 and won one state title (Class L, 1989) over its three final appearances.
"We want to go into playoffs a little bit further, look to get into the position that we want to be because we know we can do better," Husanovic said. "We've always known that. We knew that as a team from the start."
