THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Chill are headed back to the USL League 2 playoffs for the first time in six years.
However, they’ll have to wait at least two more nights to claim the top of the table in the Deep North Division.
Hugo Tavares scored the lone goal on Wednesday night, maneuvering his way along the goal line and past an FC Manitoba defender before popping it past keeper Evan Barker in the 39th minute, the tally standing up the rest of the way to earn the Chill their eighth straight regular-season win.
Thunder Bay needs a win in either of its final two matches, or RKC to lose or tie one of its remaining three games, to clinch the division crown.
Tavares, set to be a sophomore midfielder at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said it was the words of coach Tony Colistro that he turned to in the crucial moment of the contest, played in front of 712 fans at Chapples Field.
“One thing that our coach always asks is that when you’re in that position, you’ve got to try 1-v-1. When I saw the player behind me, I thought maybe this was the chance and I won the ball back, I dribbled the keeper, I saw the goal open and I just shot,” Tavares said.
“Sometimes you just have to risk it to score a goal. Today I’m grateful because I could help the team win.”
It’s not like the Chill, who tied FC Manitoba 1-1 on the road to open the season, was bereft of chances in Wednesday’s rematch.
They kept coming and coming, but the ball never found its proper target.
Brandon Bermingham lasered a free kick from the top corner of the Manitoba box in the 15th that just missed finding the short side of the net, and was later stopped in the 87th by Barker on a penalty kick that would have all but put the game away.
Jimmy Wynne sailed a shot over the net in the 63rd and Moses Kafeero and Tavares were stopped by Barker on point-blank, back-to-back chances in the 78th.
It was a bit frustrating, said Wynne, but that was to be expected, given the two teams were leading the way in the Deep North heading into the match.
“It was the top two clubs in the division and we always thought it was going to be a battle and it turned out to be a battle from the start. We had lots of chances to put them away. Obviously we missed the penalty and stuff like that, but I thought we were excellent,” Wynne said.
The Chill (8-1-1) are sitting pretty, with only games against Minneapolis City and Bavarian City standing in their way of a division title – the two teams each with five points and in a battle for the basement.
Chill coach Tony Colistro said he actually forgot his team could clinch a playoff berth with a win.
“It’s great, but we’ll take it one game at a time. That’s been the key, so we’ll worry about Friday right now. You want to keep playing stronger and stronger every game. We’re not going to take our foot off the pedal because we’ve clinched a playoff spot. We’ll keep it going.”
Nathanael Sallah was perfect in net for the Chill.
For Manitoba (5-2-3), the loss technically drops them out of second place in the division behind RKC Third Coast (6-3-0), though both teams are tied with 18 points. RKC downed Rochester FC 6-1 on Wednesday and have a game in hand on Manitoba.
