Chill blow two-goal, second-half lead, settle for tie against St. Louis

The Thunder Bay Chill are great at building leads.

It’s keeping them that’s proving to be a real problem this summer.

For the third time this season the Premier Development League club jumped out in front of an opponent in the second half, only to see the lead disappear by game’s end.

For the second time, it was the St. Louis Lions fighting back. The Lions scored twice in an eight-minute span on Wednesday night, erasing a 3-1 Chill lead to earn a 3-3 tie at Fort William Stadium.

Vadim Cojocov scored off a Kyle Andrade giveaway in the 72nd minute, with Jepson Audi netting the equalizer in the 80th, going wide on Chill goalie Daniel Milton and firing it high into the net.

The mistakes have to stop, said Thunder Bay midfielder Dominic Roberts, whose goal in the 64th minute gave the Chill a two-goal lead at the time.

“Today we started off a little bit slow and I think the whole game we didn’t pick it up – even though we scored and were up,” Roberts said.
“We got lazy and they capitalized on our chances and our mistakes.”

It’s starting to weigh on the team, the veteran added.

“It’s starting to get frustrating because we know we can do better. We know we are better. It’s just disappointing, if we could just win these games. We should be 8-0 not 5-0-3,” Roberts said.

The good news is the Chill maintained a slim one-point lead in the PDL’s Heartland Division, jumping back in front of the Chicago Fire U23s (5-2-2), with a game in hand.

But that won’t mean much if the turnovers and lack of focus don’t end soon, said first-year Chill coach Gio Petraglia.

“For sure it’s a mental problem,” Petraglia said. “But tonight we didn’t deserve to win the game. We went up 3-1. We obviously should have managed the game better.

“If we want to beat a team, if we want to make the playoffs, if we want to be the team to win the championship, we have to understand we have to manage it better than this kind of game.”

With three teams fighting for two playoff spots, the Chill can’t afford to throw away points like they did against the Lions (2-5-2), who earlier this season rallied back from a 2-0 second-half deficit to earn another draw against Petraglia’s crew.

“We can’t afford it and this is not the first time this has happened this season. So it’s a problem and it’s a problem we should fix right away,” he said.

Eddie Cass put the Chill out in front in the 25th minute, booting home a ball on a second chance after a Sergio Campano Franco free kick deep in the Lions zone.

But St. Louis’ Carson Pryor tied the score just before half, making the most of an Andrade turnover.

Andrade got a measure of revenge in the 55th, spinning and firing a low shot that dribbled past Lions goalie Iain McTurk.

After missing a couple of golden opportunities to extend their lead, Roberts connected on a feed from Daniel  Farias de Oliveira in the 64th.

The Chill also had a goal waved off in the opening minutes, the on-field officials ruling it offside.