THUNDER BAY — This Thunder Bay Chill season remains very much a work in progress.
Despite earning the lion’s share of goalscoring opportunities, the Chill fell 2-1 to visiting Rochester FC in their USL League 2 home opener at Tbaytel Field at Chapples Park on Friday.
The loss leaves the Chill with a single point through their first two games, following a road draw last weekend against FC Manitoba.
“We had a lot of opportunities,” Chill head coach Tony Colistro said. “We're still finding our way as a team. We couldn't find the back of the net [Friday night] and it's similar to last week as well.
“We just need to be patient. Nothing to panic about right now. If we keep working hard, balls are going to fall for us.”
After the Chill came up empty through multiple chances in the opening stages of the match, the visitors capitalized on a costly miscue. Chill defender Pierre Lurot surrendered the ball under intense pressure, which led to Rochester striker Mate Kanyeres finishing the sequence by beating goalkeeper Nathanael Sallah.
The lead was doubled in the 28th minute, when Rochester’s Jake Parish hit a left-footed strike from distance into the bottom far corner that got past a diving Sallah for his third goal of the campaign.
Those two goals were the only shots Rochester registered on target.
“Just a couple of lapses in the first half,” Chill midfielder Bradley Sample said. “I think we played a pretty good game overall, but that’s the game. They put their two chances away. We had a lot of chances, we didn’t capitalize on those.”
Throughout the second half, the Chill pressed to make up ground. The home side came heartbreakingly close when a Brian Ananias free kick from long range found the crossbar.
Just like their previous match, it wasn’t until second half stoppage time that Thunder Bay finally ruined the clean sheet. Substitute winger Mugsy Umar was hauled down in the penalty area, which led to Sample stepping up and converting from the spot, tucking his shot into the bottom corner.
The Chill pressed for an unlikely equalizer, earning a pair of corner kicks, but their set piece efforts remained unsuccessful. Thunder Bay finished with 12 corners, unable to turn any of them into goals.
“That was something we worked on before, and that’s something I think is definitely a strength of ours that we can play into,” Sample said. “We had a lot of chances, we didn’t put the ball into the net.”
The Chill return to action on June 9, when they welcome the St. Croix Legends to Thunder Bay.
