The Thunder Bay Chill’s tumultuous 2018 season will end earlier than fans hoped.
After dropping their sixth game of the season to the St. Louis Lions by a score of 2-1, the Chill are eliminated from postseason contention.
It’s a bitter disappointment for a team one season removed from an appearance in the Premier Devlopment League championship.
“We got the result we deserved tonight, and the result we deserved all year,” Giovanni Petraglia said. “Overall, with the rest of the year we did not deserve to make the playoffs.”
The Chill trailed for most of the game, and despite Sergio Campano’s penalty-kick equalizer is the 87th minute, the Lions scored in extra time to seal the Chill’s fate.
It’s only the second time since 2006 they won’t qualify for the postseason.
“It’s happening at the highest level with teams at the World Cup with teams that do well and come out early,” Petraglia said. “I don’t know why. We tried to prepare ourselves the best… at the end of the day on the pitch we didn’t perform."
The Chill fell behind to St. Louis after the speedy striker Jordan Watson flew up the sideline on a Lions counter-attack and struck one by Matthew Mozynski.
St. Louis came into the game as the second-to-last place team in the Heartland Division, with eight less points than the Chill.
Despite trailing by a goal for most of the contest, the Chill weren’t without their chances.
Patrick Irankuda, who recorded seven key saves for the Lions, made a diving stop in the 54th minute off of a strike from Campano.
“Fantastic strike actually… I kind of had to time it and guess where it was going to go, and at the last second I tipped it over [the net],” Irankuda said.
In the 75th minute, Jorge Guinovarte managed to get through the defense on the left side of the goal and find Luca Mastrantonio, who found the back of the net.
However, an offside call brought the goal was called back.
The Chill finally managed to tie the game up in the 87th when Sullivan Silva was taken down in the box, and Sergio Campano capitalized on the PK.
As the Chill looked for the equalizer, things became extremely physical as the Lions were handed two yellow cards just two minutes apart.
But it was the Lions who got to go home with the last laugh.
Troy Reeves sent a Justin Stinson one-touch shot past the left side of Mozynski in the third minute of added time.
“Both teams needed this one, so it was good to come out on top,” St. Louis keeper Irankuda said.
The Chill fall to 5-6-1 with the loss, and will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
“Without a doubt my worst season as head coach,” Petraglia said post-game. “We deserve this kind of outcome.”
Chicago FC’s 5-1 loss to the Des Moines Menace would have kept the Chill in the playoff race. Des Moines and Chicago will now advance from the Heartland Division.
The Chill will close out the season with two home games, one of them on Saturday against St. Louis, and the other Kaw Valley FC on Wednesday, July 11.
