THUNDER BAY – With a 14-game regular season schedule, one bad weekend has the potential to wound the Thunder Bay Chill’s playoff aspirations.
And Saturday’s contest against the Des Moines Menace capped off a painful two days.
The Chill were outclassed nearly all the way from the opening kick to the final whistle, falling 2-1 and completing a weekend sweep at the hands of their Heartland Division archrivals from Iowa.
Chill head coach Giovanni Petraglia was not happy with how his squad came out to start the match.
“The first 20, 25 minutes were very bad. It was one of the worst games we’ve played in the last two years, those first 25 minutes,” Petraglia said.
“Tonight we didn’t deserve to win the game. Probably, we could have tied the game...But it’s not the performance I’m expecting and it’s not the performance that’s going to bring us to the playoffs.”
The effects of Friday’s loss, where the Chill had to play two men down for 79 minutes after a pair of early red cards, were plainly visible one day later.
In addition to tired legs, the Chill were without core midfielders Anthony Putrus and Pedro Adan as a result of the automatic suspension from the red cards.
Driven to complete the sweep, the Menace were all over Thunder Bay from the outset.
The visitors took the lead in the 23rd minute, capitalizing on a free kick after Nick Jones was fouled by Chill midfielder Ross Lindsay. From about 25 yards out, Jones drilled his try just past outstretched Chill keeper Daniel Milton.
Things only got bleaker for the home side six minutes later when veteran defender and team captain Zetroy Robertson had to be pulled from the game due to what Petraglia said was a pulled groin.
“You lose a bit of leadership, you lose a central figure, a readjustment in a number of positions in a domino effect as a result of it,” defender Mitchell Osmond said.
“He reads the game incredibly well. He knows when to clear, when to play. He’s very positive with his talk and information on the pitch and gives everyone that leader we need.”
Despite the deficit and losing Robertson, the Chill found themselves right back in the game after striker Sullivan Silva showed glimpses of the magic that netted him 2012 PDL MVP honours.
After the Chill defence cleared a Des Moines corner, Silva took the ball on a run, eluding a defender and finding the bottom corner of the goal to get on the scoresheet for the first time this season.
That goal took the two team’s into halftime deadlocked.
Thunder Bay nearly went ahead in the 68th minute as Daniel Oliveira chipped a shot that went over the head of Menace goaltender Jacob Leeker but also went over the crossbar.
But other than those chances, the Chill struggled to establish any substantial offensive possession or generate much sustained pressure.
“We cannot just hope to play like the other teams. They are different kinds of teams. They send the ball up there and they’re physical and they try to do a different kind of game,” Petraglia said.
“We can’t. We have to play with the ball on the ground. That’s what we’re working on. We’re going to work a little bit more.”
Des Moines netted the game winner with less than 15 minutes to play after second half substitute Leigh Veidman easily finished a cross from Devyn Jamba in the 77th minute.
Notes: There were 606 fans in attendance at Tbaytel Field at Fort William Stadium…Chris Jones, Dominic Roberts, Oliveira, Osmond and James Pendrigh were all assessed yellow cards for the Chill…The Menace (4-0-1) are the only remaining undefeated team in the division. They trail the first-place Chicago Fire U-23 (5-1-0), though they have a game in hand. The Chill (2-2-0) are in fourth place with six points, though they have at least one game in hand on every team ahead of them in the table…The Chill fall to 24-28-4 in their all-time head-to-head history with Des Moines…The Chill host Chicago (4-1-0) at Tbaytel Field at Fort William Stadium on Tuesday with the opening kick scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
