THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay Chill coach Gio Petraglia had a plan to make a push for the equalizer on Friday night against the Des Moines Menace.
But it all went awry in the 75th minute when an overly aggressive tackle by midfielder Abraham Villon resulted in a red card, leaving the Chill shorthanded for the final 20 minutes of play.
The Menace held on for the 1-0 win, spoiling Thunder Bay’s home opener in front of 610 fans at Fort William Stadium.
Petraglia said red cards are almost always costly, but this one hurt as his team was pressuring the Menace most of the night, despite trailing from the 26th minute on after Hayden Partain connected on Des Moines third straight corner kick, beating Chill keeper David Elias for the lone goal of the night.
“Unfortunately in the last year against Des Moines we always have a red card, which is not the only reason we lost the game,” Petraglia said.
“I was thinking about some tactical changes with subs, but when (Villon) was sent off it changed my plans. The last 20 minutes, we couldn’t play the way I was thinking to play the team. It doesn’t mean that we would have scored, but we had to adapt, playing one man short.”
Villon was the catalyst to the Chill’s attack most of the night, the ball usually touching his feet when the home side had its best chances.
His ejection came mere minutes after Thunder Bay’s best two chances of the night.
In the 73rd, Chris Makengo raced down the left side of the pitch and blasted a shot at Des Moines keeper Kyle Ihn, whose attempt to gobble up the ball resulted in a juicy rebound that landed at the feet of Adam Abdellaui.
The Georgia native tried to lift it past Ihn, who was on the turf, but managed to haul in the shot before it found the back of the net.
“I think at that point it all just comes down to your technique and how you train. That’s the great coaching staff of the Des Moines Menace. That’s just sort of going back to my instinct. I wasn’t really even thinking during the moment,” Ihn said.
The Chill, who struggled with their possession game, had plenty of other opportunities to score, starting with Brandon Swartzendruber’s chance in the 20th, once again stopped by Ihn.
Eddie Sanchez, who earned a yellow card late in the opening half, nearly converted off a corner kick in the 52nd for Thunder Bay, but the ball went off the side of the opposing net. In the 70th Swartzendruber appeared to snake his way past the Menace defence, only to be called offside. The Chill also had a corner kick in the 81st, but the ball was headed out of harm’s way.
The Menace improved to 2-1-1.
The two teams will tangle again on Saturday night.
Pitch marks: Chill forward Sullivan Silva (groin) did not play and is questionable for Saturday night’s rematch.
