THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Chill are headed to the USL League 2 playoffs as Deep North Division champions.
Brian Ananias came off the bench on Wednesday night and scored a pair of goals, helping the Chill break open a 1-0 game as they went on to defeat Bavarian United 4-1 at Chapples Field, delivering Thunder Bay’s first division crown since they captured the Heartland Division in 2017 en route to an appearance in the league final.
Ananias said he knew his team needed a boost, as it struggled to put the ball past Bavarian keeper Alex Grow, knowing they’d given up a two-goal lead last Friday against Minneapolis City and had to settle for a tie.
A tie on Wednesday would have been enough to secure the Deep North title, but Ananias and the Chill didn’t want to take any chances.
“My instructions coming into the game were just to make an impact. We were up 1-0 at the time and we needed help,” he said. “I was able to come in and help the team and thank God for that.”
Despite last week’s tie, the Chill hit the postseason on a 10-game undefeated streaking, winning nine to go with the Minneapolis City draw.
“Everyone came in and we all made sacrifices to be here for the summer. No one went on vacation. The guys, as a collective, were all strong throughout these two-and-a-half months. Hard work pays off. We showed it. Now we have 10 days to prepare for the playoffs and Des Moines better be ready for us.”
It’s almost certain the Chill will be taking on their long-time division rival, the Des Moines Menace, a week from Friday, possibly in the Iowa capital, the league expected to name on the of the three American teams in the crossover playoffs as host, quite likely Des Moines, the second-place finisher in the Heartland Division.
Chicago and RKC Third Coast, who could have caught the Chill had they lost to Bavarian United, will tangle in the other conference semifinal.
Coach Tony Colistro called the regular season a great journey, one that might have started slow in the early going, but finished strong.
‘We had a lot of confidence in this team. But it’s just a journey and we’ve got a big game coming up next week and hopefully that journey will continue,” Colistro said.
“It kind of got stale there for a bit (tonight). That’s why we thought we might have to insert some players just to change it up a bit. Bringing in Sully (Silva) and Brian, those are weapons we have sitting on the sidelines and we knew they were going to make a difference in the game.”
The Chill were without striker Brandon Bermingham, who was recalled by his college and won’t return this season.
Thunder Bay mounted plenty of pressure on the Bavarian 11 in the opening minutes, and caught a good bounce in the 10th minute when Federico Tempestilli’s shot from just outside the box bounced off the shin of a BU defender and into the net.
That’s when the offence dried up.
Thunder Bay struggled to create good chances, while their opponent had a pair of great ones in the second half. Heriberto Soto had his hot punched away by Chill keeper Nathanael Sallah in the 58th and it took a sliding tackle by Pierre Lurot to prevent Mitchell Dryden’s shot from finding the mesh.
Ananias then put the game out of reach with back-to-back tallies in the 78th and 82nd and Jamie Wynn added one more in extra time. Jerome Jolly had the lone Bavarian goal, coming in the 87th, lifting over Sallah’s outstretched reach.
