London falling

By the time this one ended, Thunder Bay Chill striker Brandon Swartzendruber had nothing left to give.

Luckily he’d already made his contribution in the fifth minute, scoring what proved to be the only goal as the Chill knocked off a tough Forest City London squad 1-0 Friday in the Premier Development League’s Central Conference championship semifinal.

On Saturday they’ll take on the Michigan Bucks in the conference final, a marquee matchup that will decide who moves on to the PDL championship weekend, and who goes home to think about next year.

Michigan earlier knocked off the Rochester Thunder 2-0 in the other conference semifinal.

Gasping for breath and surrounded by teammates telling him not to worry about his inability to add to the Chill lead, despite a number of second-half chances, the PDL’s leading scorer and point-getter pointed to the club’s rearguard for saving the day.

“Our defence was huge today,” Swartzendruber said, sweat rolling down his forehead in amounts that might end drought conditions in a desert.

“We should have put the game away. It was tough, but sometimes that happens. Luckily everybody came to play today, especially the back four. They were huge, and so was (goalie Stephen) Paterson.”

Paterson faced his biggest test – and ultimately London’s best chance of the night – as the opening half wound down to a close at Chapples Field.

A foul was called in the box and London’s Carl Howarth lined up to take a penalty kick. He guessed right, and caught Paterson going to his left, but his soft kick bounced off the right post and bounced out of harm’s way as the whistle blew to end the opening 45 minutes.

“We were able to go in the changing room and talk about it right away,” said Thunder Bay coach Tony Colistro, seeking his second PDL title in three seasons.

“We made sure that wasn’t going to happen in the second half.”

Paterson said he’s not sure what happened on the play.

“Maybe he saw me going to the right and was originally gonna go to my right and then tried to pull it back and missed the goal. Maybe, I don’t know, I’m not sure,” Paterson said. “Going through my mind? There was no doubt in my mind it wasn’t going in,” he said.

What it did do was boost the collective confidence of the Chill.

“We were pretty positive in the locker room with what we were going to do in the second half. If they would have scored that, we might have put our heads down. I think it was good that we didn’t allow them to score,” Paterson said.

It was not for lack of trying in the yellow card-filled second half on London’s behalf that a ball didn’t find is way into the Chill net.

In the 49th minute Paterson juggled a ball he jumped for and it sat tantalizing alone in front of his net for a few short seconds until it was swatted away.

London kept up the pressure and in the 60th minute Haris Cekic was awarded a free kick. The Chill’s Julius Abegar headed it out of harm’s way.

The Chill had a brilliant chance of their own in the 67th, when playmaker Gustavo Oliveira passed a corner kick to Anthony Colaizzi waiting in front, forcing London goalie Patrick Eavenson to dive to stop. London had chances in teh 74th and 83rd, when Paterson made more diving stops when Howarth tried to convert a pass from Luke Holmes, who finished second to Swartzendruber in the PDL scoring race.

In Friday’s other conference final, Kenny Uzoigwe scored in the 14th minute and Stefan St. Louis in the 54th, ending expansion Rochester’s Cinderella ride to the PDL postseason.

Saturday’s final between Michigan and Thunder Bay is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. at Chapples Field.

Pitch marks: In other playoff action around the league, the Laredo Heat, the team the Chill beat in the 2008 final, were knocked off 2-1 by the Baton Rouge Capitals.