THUNDER BAY — The Thunder Bay Chill take their first step toward a second USL League 2 championship this weekend in Des Moines.
The Deep North Division champions, who rolled through the regular season with a 9-1-2 record, will take on AFC Ann Arbor on Friday afternoon, opening the round of 32 at the home of the Menace, the Chill’s longtime division rival who this season returned to the Heartland Division, finishing second to Chicago City FC.
Chicago, who could have hosted but chose to hit the road, decided to take a travel exception and will compete against teams from the Great Lakes and Valley divisions, a little closer to home than the Iowa capital, leaving the Chill to travel to Valley Stadium for a win-or-go-home match against Ann Arbor, and should they advance, a shot at a quarterfinal berth in a Sunday match-up against the winner between Des Moines and RKC Third Coast.
Forward Abdoul Karim Pare said the regular season was just a warm-up for the team, which last made the playoffs in 2017, advancing to the league final before falling to the Charlotte Eagles in the championship match.
He can hardly contain his excitement.
“As a player, these are the games you want to play, the playoff games,” Pare said. “Every team that makes it this far they are all good. I think our team is very ready to take on this team. We’ve been working hard this week and we’re ready for this game.”
Eduardo Calzola, named the Chill’s most valuable player following their regular-season finale on July 12, a 4-1 win over expansion Bavarian United, had a slightly different view than his teammate, not wanting to take anything for granted at this stage of the season.
“I believe you’re never ready enough. It’s a football game and you never know what’s going to happen when you’re on the pitch. But from our behalf, we’re doing all the best that we can and we are working every day,” Calzola said.
“We are showing ourself ready to do our best. We are looking for a great win, that’s what I’m telling you. We’re not looking to push the game to PKs. We are going there and we want to make a loud statement. It’s going to be a great match.”
Their opponent is a bit of an unknown, the Chill not having seen them in person, given the strict in-division schedule laid out by the league.
Ann Abor finished 6-5-1 in 2023, scoring an average of two goals a game, while allowing 15 over 12 contests.
They dropped two of their last three, and started the season in a similar fashion.
The Chill, on the other hand, enter the postseason on a 10-game undefeated streak, putting together eight straight wins before allowing Minneapolis City to battle back from a 2-0 deficit in the second half to earn a 2-2 tie in Thunder Bay’s penultimate game.
Head coach Tony Colistro, who returned to guide the team after the Chill parted ways with longtime coach Gio Petraglia after last season, said it really didn’t matter to him who they matched up against in the opening round, knowing the games will only get tougher from there on in.
“We had to wait until Sunday morning to find out the draw, so that’s given us a few days to look at our opponent and see what their strengths are and whatever weaknesses they might have,” Colistro said on Wednesday, hours before the team boarded the bus and headed south to Des Moines.
“We were able to spend the last few days in training to prepare for that game and I think we’re as ready as can be. I’ve always liked our chances. I think we can match up with anybody. I think we’ve got a very good size this year. But when you get into playoffs it’s one game and anything can happen.
“We’ll just take it in stride, put our best foot forward and hope for the best.”
The game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and will be livestreamed.
