Strong start

Dominic Roberts had about a week to get used to a new position.

It appeared Saturday night he mastered it.

The Thunder Bay Chill midfielder, playing on the right side of the pitch for the first time in his career, scored four times, powering the hometown favourites to an easy, lopsided 8-0 friendly win over the Winnipeg Lions at a soggy Fort William Stadium.

Not to be outdone, rookie Sergio Campanos blasted a trio of balls past Winnipeg goalie Sean Golden, in what`s become a traditional start to the Thunder Bay season.

“It felt good. I just do my thing. The team played well, we’re starting to gel, like last year,” said Roberts, in his second season with the Chill.

“And I just think I did all right.”

In fact, not much went wrong for Thunder Bay, who were playing without a host of regulars, including injured reigning Premier Development League most valuable player Sullivan Silva, hobbled by an injured foot.

Also on the sidelines was all-star goalie Stephen Paterson.

It really didn’t matter.

And though the competition might not quite be what they’ll face next weekend against WSA Winnipeg, when they open their season on the road, the shutout win was a confidence boost nonetheless.

“It’s exactly the start we needed to give us our confidence, to get us back on our toes again and just get ready for the season,” Roberts said.

Chill coach Tony Colistro took a new approach on Saturday, inserting five midfielders into his lineup, an approach that seemed to work just fine.

“I think it put them in a good position. It was a little bit different for Dominic then where he was last year. But it was good they were in the right place to score those goals,” Colistro said.

It’s a look teams should count on seeing again.

“Absolutely,” Colistro said. “With all the strong midfielders we brought in, they were all good and that was going to give us a different look. We’ve got strikers and now we’ve got a very strong midfield, so we can play in that form.”

It took the Chill about 20 minutes to hit their offensive stride. But once Campanos started the scoring, the floodgates opened.

He added a second in the 21st minute. Roberts netted back-to-back goals in the 27th and 40th minutes, with Campanos completing the hat trick before the half, the Chill leading 5-0.

Roberts added two more in the second half, sandwiching French rookie Thomas Chameraud’s first in Thunder Bay.

Daniel Alvarado earned the shutout for the Chill, who will give the Lions a rematch on Sunday, a matinee affair scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.