The path to perfection remained intact Friday night – though it took a little while to get there.
Striker Sunny Omogerie’s nifty second-half goal was all the offence the Thunder Bay Chill needed to run their record to 8-0-0, the 1-0 win coming at the expense of the much-improved Springfield Demize.
Offence was at a premium, the two teams playing on a soggy Tbaytel Field at Chapples Park that looked like a grassy jigsaw puzzle gone wrong.
“The first 45 minutes, I don’t know what happened. We had many chances, but we were unable to score,” said Omogerie, who leads the Chill with five goals, a fantastic fill-in for injured all-star striker Sullivan Silva.
“But when we got to the dressing room, our coach talked to us and said we need to score one. That is it. And I scored the one.”
It felt good to finally put one away, after the Chill missed several golden opportunities in the first half. In the 19th minute Omogerie blasted one high that Demize goalie Trevor Spangenberg leapt and punched out of harm’s way.
Five minutes later defender Zetroy Robertson broke free from the pack and lined a shot at the net, only to have it knocked away. Omogerie was at it again in the 35th, ringing one off the post, unable to deposit a pass from teammate Thomas Chameraud into the Springfield net.
“When I looked at the scoreboard and saw it was 0-0, I said, ‘No, no, we need to win this game. We want to win eight in a row,”
Omogerie said, happy to learn Saturday’s rematch has been moved to the artificial turf at Fort William Stadium.
“When they gave you a pass it just stopped.”
Chill coach Tony Colistro said he thought his team was in control of the contest all game long.
“I think we were pretty comfortable for 90 minutes, but it was only one (goal) and they were only a shot away and they had a couple of good opportunities. Steve (Paterson) had to make a really great save at the end of the game to maintain this lead.”
Colistro said he stressed to his players how valuable the three points were in their bid to host the conference championship, but not to panic.
“We knew we had a lot of great opportunities in the first half. Basically in the second half I told them to keep them coming and let’s try to get one early, because the longer you go, the more confidence they’re going to build,” Colistro said.
“We managed to do that and then we seemed pretty comfortable. It would have been nice to get that second one.”
The Chill haven’t allowed a goal at home this season in four games, something Colistro prides himself on.
“We want to keep that clean sheet. I think that’s just as important as the record, not allowing goals in, which allows you to just get one and you win the game. So we just take it one game at a time and tomorrow we’ll go for the ninth win. You’ve just got to take baby steps and hopefully we’ll get that perfect record.”
Pitch marks: The Chill remain one of just two Premier Development teams with an unblemished record.
