THUNDER BAY – Pontiac, Mich. hasn’t been kind to the Thunder Bay Chill in recent years.
For the past two seasons the Premier Development League club has descended on the former hometown of the Detroit Lions with high hopes, only to have them dashed by the powerful Michigan Bucks.
Chill coach Giovanni Petraglia says this year will be different.
Thunder Bay, winner of the Heartland Division, on Friday opens the Central Conference championship against Kitchener-Waterloo United (9-4-1), runners-up in the Great Lakes Division. The winner of that game takes on the victor of the Bucks/Des Moines Menace semifinal on Saturday for a spot in the PDL final four.
Focus is the key to escaping the postseason’s first round, a task not completed by the Chill since 2013, when they went all the way to the PDL final in Austin, Texas.
Well, that and owning the league’s top defensive unit.
“The defence is the most important thing we have this year. With all 11, we defend very well. But we need to improve how we finish our chances because we always have chances. And we will have chances in these games as well,” Petraglia said.
“If we can improve our finishing a little bit, I believe we can come back with a Central Conference title this time.”
The Chill (9-3-2) were the stingiest team in the PDL in 2017, allowing just eight goals in 14 games, blanking the opposition eight times.
But they also struggled to put the ball in the net at times, particularly in a pair of 1-0 losses to the Menace, a team they could see on Saturday.
Retribution is on the mind of Thunder Bay captain Mitchell Osmond.
“The last two years we obviously had disappointing results against Michigan. We have K-W up first, but our objective is to win the conference and that’s it,” the Australian defender said.
There’s no danger of looking past their first opponent, he added.
“I don’t think it matters who we get put up against, we’re ready to go. We’ve been doing our homework this week. The coaches have been doing a great job preparing us for K-W,” Osmond said.
“We’re thinking about K-W. I think the retribution part is leaving Michigan with the conference championship.”
Midfielder Chris Makengo said a good week of practice is a good sign of good things to come.
“I’m really confident about the team,” the native of France said on Wednesday. “We are the champions of this division and for me we have the possibility to win this league.
“We just have to go this week into Michigan, do the job, win these two games. Then we’ll see.”
The games will be played indoors at Ultimate Soccer Arenas with the playoff opener scheduled to kick off on Friday at 5 p.m.
