Chill dominate Demize 4-0 on home turf

The Thunder Bay Chill (3-1) owned the ball, field and scoreboard to conclude their home opener with a 4-0 victory over the Springfield Demize at Chapples Park Thursday night.

The Chill’s offensive domination was made obvious by the scoreboard, but the tight defence that wouldn’t allow Springfield a shot on target until the 68th minute made the home team appear as if they were in a league above their opponent.

Andrew Marinez started the offensive onslaught in the game’s second minute, finding the back of the Springfield net after receiving the ball from fellow midfielder Nolan Intermoia.

Both teams were stuck in the midfield for the first 15 minutes following the quick goal. The midfield clog ended just before the 20-minute mark when the Chill’s offence found a reliable route through the Demize defence that led straight to the net.

That route was available to the Chill’s offence for nearly the entire first half, which ended 3-0 after two added minutes.

"We were trying to push the ball down the middle and that wasn’t working," said Chill head coach Tony Colistro after the game. "Going down the middle is always our first option, but when we see that that doesn’t work we have guys who can go wide and that was the killer."

The Chill didn’t hold up when they returned for a second half. Colistro realized that an impressive first half could lead to a second half that lacked focus, so he used much of the halftime break to keep his players concentrating on the next 45 minutes.

"I said we have to stay focused because you have to respect your opponent," he said. "They could come back and get a goal and the game could change so you want to be in control of it. I think we did alright, we got the initial goal in the second half and it was good that we kept control and kept the shutout."

Intermoia, along with assisting the winning goal, collected two goals of his own before the final whistle blew. Like his coach, the striker said he was aware that his team’s dominant performance could easily be erased if they stepped back onto the field for a lacklustre second half.

"You can never take any team lightly," he said. "Even going into the half with a 3-0 lead, this is soccer and crazier things have happened."

About 1,070 fans at witnessed the wining performance.

The Chill get set to take on the Springfield Demize back at Chapples Park Friday at 7:30 p.m. for the final match of a two-game series.