Playing shorthanded does have its downside.
The Thunder Bay Chill, who lost playmaker Gustavo Oliveira to a red card in the seventh minute, couldn’t pull another man-down miracle out of their playbook Saturday night, falling 2-0 to the now first-place Des Moines Menace.
Jubril Lawal broke a scoreless tie in the 70th minute and John Sosa provides insurance 12 minutes later on a penalty kick as the Thunder Bay Chill missed out on a chance to take over top spot in the Premier Development League’s Heartland Division.
The Chill (9-2-1) return home Tuesday night for the start of a two-game set against expansion Winnipeg, the only other team to beat the defending PDL finalists this season. Thunder Bay went 4-1-1 on their six-game road trip.