Chill take out heated rival Menace

The Thunder Bay Chill, to some extent, have rivalries with every team in the Premier Development League’s Heartland Division.

None come bigger than the one with the Des Moines Menace. The two teams have combined to win the past eight division crowns, Thunder Bay owning six of those titles.

But the Menace took the crown last season and the defending divisional champions descended on Fort William Stadium on Friday night with something to prove, trailing the first-place Chill by four points and looking to make up ground as the season nears its midway point.

Unfortunately for the Menace, Brandon Swartzendruber got in their way.

The Chill’s all-time leading scorer netted two more to lead Thunder Bay (5-0-2) to a 2-0 win that preserved their unbeaten run through the first half of the PDL campaign.

It’s a good feeling, Swartzendruber said. 

“We’re happy,” he said. “We’ve got nothing to complain about except we think we could be 7-0. But we’re happy with where we’re at and we’re getting better every game, so hopefully we can just keep that going.”

Swartzendruber, who couldn’t seem to break free for most of the opening half, finally connected in the 44th minute, taking a feed from Paul Sunderland and brushing it past Menace goaltender Paul Blanchette.

“It was a great ball from Paul. As he was getting ready to hit it I made a run to the far post, so the defender would go and then I just jolted near post and I just got the ball in,” Swartzendruber said.

The second goal came in the 69th minutes, not long after Des Moines midfielder Chris Hellmann was handed a red card, ending his night and leaving the Menace (3-2-1) a body short.

Swartzendruber and Kyle Andrade raced down the field, a single defender between themselves and Blanchette.

Andrade slid the ball over to his teammate, who made no mistake for his second of the night and fifth of the season.

Hellman was upset at an offside call in the 65th minute that negated a Des Moines goal. He got a quick yellow for complaining to the officials, followed instantaneously by the red.

Chill coach Gio Petraglia said they approached the Menace game a little differently than their first six contests.

“We were sure that possession was the key and possession was the key,” he said.

“The first half especially we kept the ball very well and we finally found space to score. In the second half we decided not to change anything because it was all right what we were doing in the first half and it paid off because we were prepared for the game and everybody did exactly what we had prepared for during the week.”

The Chill’s Angelo Kelly-Rosales was also tossed, given the red in the 88th minute. The officials also handed out six yellows during the game.

The Chill next take to the pitch at home on Wednesday when the St. Louis Lions visit Thunder Bay.