THUNDER BAY – The last time the Thunder Bay Chill won the Heartland Division crown, they went all the way to the Premier Development League championship game.
That was four years ago.
On Wednesday night they claimed the title again, knocking off the St. Louis Lions 4-0 at Fort William Stadium in their regular-season finale, the Chill’s eighth clean slate in 14 games.
With the win Thunder Bay improved to 9-3-2, seven points up on second place Des Moines, who has just two games left to play, not enough to catch their long-time division rival.
They’ll take on Kitchener-Waterloo FC United, the No. 2 seed in the Great Lakes Division, next weekend in the opening round of the Central Conference playoffs
Chill forward Adam Abdellaoui, who pounced on an Eddie Sanchez rebound in the 33rd minute and punched it past Lions keeper Casey Clark for the game’s first goal, said winning the Heartland Division has been on the team’s mind the entire season.
Getting the job done is a fantastic accomplishment, he said, even though it’s only the latest step in what they hope is the road to a PDL championship.
“It feels amazing. It’s my first year, but I know this club hasn’t had one since 2013. It’s great to be a part of this team to finally bring home the Heartland Division,” said Abdellaoui, whose goal was his fifth of 2017, good enough to lead the defensively minded Chill this season.
It’s the first division win for coach Giovanni Petraglia, who called it an important milestone for the team. “I believe we all felt that we deserved it this season. It’s a good reward for everybody and we’re all happy to finally bring home the division after (four) years. The last time was 2013 and now we’re going to try to bring the conference back,” Petraglia said.
His squad completed the season as the PDL’s best defensive team, having allowed just eight goals along the way to the division title.
But they also showed they can put the ball in the net, scoring 26 goals, Wednesday’s game a shining example of their offensive prowess.
Three minutes after Abdellaoui scored, German Alfaro was pulled down in the box, leading to a penalty kick.
Mitchell Osmond kept it low, fooling Clark in the Lions net, and Thunder Bay took a 2-0 lead into the half, the rain continuing to pour.
Sanchez scored an insurance marker in the 76th and Liam Ezzard finished it off in stoppage time with his first of the season.
The Chill got off to a slow start – the Lions missing scoring chances on a free kick and a subsequent corner – but began to turn things around at about the 10-minute mark.
“It was a sloppy game. I guess it took a little while for us to get our rhythm down. St. Louis is a scrappy team, so I guess that kind of works in their favour. But once you get a goal in it helps calm the nerves and we just started controlling the game,” Abdellaoui said.
The loss crippled the Lions playoff hopes. They sit a point behind Des Moines with just one game to play, the Menace needed to win one of their final two to clinch the division’s second and final playoff berth.
Notes: The Chill have bid to host the Central Conference championship and should learn in the next few days whether their bid was successful.
