Returning to the Chill a no-brainer for Paterson

Tony Colistro spent the winter wondering how he might replace his all-star goalie Stephen Paterson.

It turns out he lost sleep over nothing.

Paterson, who earned a brief tryout this past winter with Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC, is back for his seventh season with the Chill, a team he debuted with at the tender age of 17.

The idea of not returning to Thunder Bay didn’t really cross his mind, Paterson said, having given Colistro his word he’d be back if things didn’t work out in Toronto.

"Tony and the team have done a lot for me, so I figured I’d come back. I have to go back to school in the fall. I tried out for TFC in January and they said they were going with someone with more professional experience, which is fine," Paterson said.

"That’s not for me to decide, obviously. So I figured I would finish school and come back here. And I love it here. You can’t go wrong with the program we have here."

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t think he’s too old to learn new tricks in net, which is one of the reasons he was excited about attending his first professional camp.

The payoff could help put the Chill, fresh off their third straight Premier Development League playoff experience, back on top again.

"Personally I’d say I picked up a few things there. The speed of play was really fast, with the TFC. I got a little bit of coaching, with a few technique pointers, so I’m sure it will help in the long run," Paterson said.

Not that he has anything left to prove at this level. A hometown favourite, Paterson finished tied for sixth place in the PDL with six shutouts in 2009, the third straight summer he’s posted at least that many whitewashings.

Two years ago he helped lead the Chill to a national championship, and with the dynamic duo of Gustavo Oliveira and Brandon Swartzendruber leading the front-end charge, Paterson likes to think the team will have similar success in 2010.

"We’re looking to have a good scoring offence," he said, carefully choosing his next words. "I’m not saying we didn’t have a good offence last year, but at times we might have needed that extra push that Gustavo and Brandon bring. And we’ve also got a couple of new guys with speed and pace and power too."

The Chill will play an exhibition on May 29 against the Winnipeg Sons of Italy at Chapples Field. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

They open their 10^th PDL season on June 4 in Kansas City.