Chill complete season sweep of WSA Winnipeg

THUNDER BAY -- The Thunder Bay Chill have proven they can knock off WSA Winnipeg.

Sullivan Silva scored in the opening minute Saturday night at Fort William Stadium - his third goal in four games – to lead the Chill to a 1-0 win and a weekend sweep over their Canadian rivals.

The win was Thunder Bay’s fourth in four chances over Winnipeg, the only Premier Development League team they’ve found the win column against in 2016 in compiling a 4-2-1 record.

Coach Gio Petraglia said the Chill collected the six points they were aiming for this weekend, but all it’s really done is give them a chance.

Thunder Bay trails Chicago by three points, with a game in hand, for the second and final playoff berth up for grabs in the Heartland Division.

Unless they can find wins against St. Louis, Kokomo, Chicago and Des Moines – a five-game stretch over eight days starting on July 2 – it will be all for naught, Petraglia said.

“We have to win against other teams, or we know we can’t make the playoffs. We know we have five important games on the road. Three of them are probably crucial,” he said, pointing to a pair in Chicago and the road-trip finale against the rival Menace.

“We need to win against them, otherwise there is no playoffs for us. I’m still confident. I believe it is a mental problem. We were a little bit down in our confidence after a weird weekend against Des Moines. Now we have 10 days to work and be ready for the long trip.”

Unlike Friday’s 2-0 win over Winnipeg, where the Chill waited until the 63rd minute to break a scoreless tie, Silva had his team on the board 45 seconds into the contest – though the goal was disputed.

Silva slammed a shot that Winnipeg goalie Evan Barker snagged, but the force of the ball carried his hands beyond the goal line and after a short conference, the on-field officials ruled it a score.

“I think so,” he said, asked if it actually crossed the line.

“But at the end of the day, the referees are going to decide it and they decided it was a goal. I’m happy with it.”

While the goal stood up, Silva said the Chill would have liked to see a few more cross the line to build a little momentum going forward.

After all, Winnipeg is just 1-9 on the season, not exactly a PDL powerhouse.

Silva said they wanted to start the offence rolling early, which they did. The follow-up goals just weren’t to be.

“We once again created a lot of opportunities, but we could not finish. It’s something we have to manage a little better. But overall it was better,” he said.

The visitors had a couple of decent second-half chances, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Daniel Oliveira, Anthony Putrus and Chris Jones each had golden scoring opportunities for the Chill – Oliveira hit the side of the net, Putrus’ acrobatic kick was stopped by Barker and Jones’ shot flew over the cross bar.

Net shots: The Chill will play an exhibition game on Saturday against the Thunder Bay men’s league all-stars … Winnipeg’s Danto Moses leaves Thunder Bay for a tryout with Kansas City’s MLS team.