THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Chill made a great first impression on the USL 2 circuit on Friday night.
In front of a crowd of 521 at Chapples Field, the Chill (1-0-0) got goals from Diego Reveco, Sullivan Silva, Nicholas Phyllis and Loris Tsiatsipy as they picked up a 4-2 victory over Bavarian United SC (2-0-1) in their opening game of the 2024 regular season.
“We didn’t get off to a good start last year and we wanted to make sure that we changed that this year,” Chill head coach Tony Colistro said.
“I thought the boys did really well. I would have liked to have been a little bit cleaner defensively, but I was really happy with the performance and how we were getting forward.”
Reveco got the party started in the 23rd minute as his shot from the right side of the net got past Bavarian United goalkeeper Alexander Grow.
“Honestly, I just saw the ball coming in and took a touch,” Reveco said. “When I saw the goal, I just finished it.
“This is a strong team. We were pretty strong in pre-season and we’re feeling good right now. Every day we’re getting better and better. This is going to be a great season.”
After putting some pressure on Chill netminder Joshua Moya prior to halftime, Bavarian United knotted things up at one early in the second half on a goal by Bienvenu Djunga.
From that point on though, the match belonged to the hosts as Silva put the Chill back out in front in the 58th minute.
Phyllis and Tsiatsipy, who both entered the game as second half substitutes, took advantage of their opportunities by sliding shots by Grow in the 66th and 77th minute.
“When we get ahead, the other teams will tend to push up and we won’t really keep our guys back,” Colistro said.
“We’ll still keep them forward, which you saw today, because we know that we are very potent up front. That (worked) well for us in this game.”
Zach Hult got the second goal of the night for the visitors moments after Tsiatsipy's marker, but that would be as close as the Milwaukee-based squad would get.
The Chill are on the road for their next two contests. They visit Minneapolis City FC on Wednesday and Rochester FC on Friday.
St. Croix SC will come to Chapples Field for a doubleheader with the Chill on June 14 and 16.
