Thunder Bay Chill

Thunder Bay Chill
Full name Thunder Bay Chill
Nickname(s) The Chill
Founded 2000
Stadium Fort William Stadium
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Stadium
capacity		 1,600
Owner John Marrello
Head Coach Giovanni Petraglia
League Premier Development League
2016 2nd, Heartland Division
Playoffs: Conference Semifinals
Website Club home page

Thunder Bay Chill is a Canadian soccer team based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2000, the team plays in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Heartland Division of the Central Conference.

The team plays its home games at Chapples Park. The team's colours are white and blue.

History

Thunder Bay Chill joined the PDL in 2000 as the first ever soccer franchise from western Ontario. Their initial forays into competitive action were not hugely successful: they finished last in the Heartland Division in their debut season with a 4-13-1 record, improved to 6-13-1 in 2001 but still finished fourth of five in the Heartland, and repeated to 5-12-1 in 2002, finishing sixth of eight and still some way off the playoff standard set by regional rivals such as Des Moines Menace and Boulder Rapids Reserve.

The 2003 season actually started very promisingly for Chill, as they rattled off three back-to-back victories over Wisconsin Rebels and Kalamazoo Kingdom, thanks mainly to the goal scoring prowess of Liberian striker Doco Wesseh. Chill's problem was inconsistency - back-to-back wins would be followed by back-to-back defeats - and despite enjoying several impressive victories, including a 4-1 hammering of Wisconsin Rebels, a hard-fought 5-4 win on the road at Sioux Falls Spitfire, and a free-scoring 4-2 win over Des Moines Menace in which Wesseh scored a hat trick, Chill could never quite close the gap on the league-leading Chicago Fire Premier. Even a final day 1-0 home win over Des Moines was not enough, and the Chill finished the season a much closer 4th, six points off the playoffs. Wesseh and Ron Badanai were Chill's top scorers, with 17 goals between them, while Mike Kolinski contributed 5 assists.

Chill continued their improved run of form through 2004, but a lack of consistency remained their downfall. Chill seesawed their way to five wins and five defeats in their opening ten games of the campaign, taking nine points off the Indiana Invaders and the Wisconsin Rebels, but losing twice to Des Moines Menace on the road in Iowa, who were quickly becoming their fiercest rivals. Weather conditions in Ontario forced Chill to play their seven of their first nine games on the road, contributing to their patchy form. The second half of the season, in which the majority of the games were played at Chapples Park, generally turned more in Thunder Bay's favor: they overpowered Wisconsin Rebels 4-1, and sneaked a 5-4 victory over Des Moines off an injury-time winner from Doco Wesseh, but lost both of their two final regular season games at home to Chicago Fire Premier. Chill finished fourth in the Heartland for a second straight year, seven points off the playoff positions. Doco Wesseh and Mike Kolinski were Chill's top scorers, with 6 goals each, while Wesseh also contributed 7 assists.

Thunder Bay finished fourth in the Heartland Division for the third straight year in 2005, albeit a full 21 points behind divisional champions Boulder Rapids Reserve. Their relative geographical isolation forced them to play their games as 2-game series, on consecutive days, which seemed to hurt their form. After a promising start to the season in which they overpowered Sioux Falls Spitfire 3-1 and 4-1, Chill proceeded to lose five of their next six games on the road, including a trio of heavy defeats: 3-0 to Des Moines Menace, 4-0 to Chicago Fire Premier and 3-0 to Fort Wayne Fever. Chill's form improved once they returned home to Chapples Park, overturning Fort Wayne 5-1 off a hat trick by Josiah Seton, registering a hard-fought 2-1 come-from-behind win over Des Moines, and emerging victorious from a bruising 5-3 encounter with Sioux Falls. Unfortunately for Chill, they staggered towards the finish line, losing two of their last three regular season games. Josiah Seton was Thunder Bay's top scorer, with 12 goals, and Guilherme De Souza contributed 6 assists.

Things fell apart for Chill in 2006, who suffered one of their worst seasons since joining the PDL. The team won just two games all year, and finished a distant 7th in the Heartland Division, three points behind their closest rival, Colorado Springs Blizzard, and a full 33 points behind divisional champions, Boulder Rapids Reserve. Their two wins - 2-1 over Sioux Falls Spitfire and an acrually rather impressive 5-1 on the road at Indiana Invaders in which Guilherme De Souza scored a hat trick - were scant reward for head coach Tony Colistro's men. The entire rest of the season they were out-fought and out-muscled: they fell 2-0 and 4-1 to bitter rivals Des Moines Menace in their opening fixtures, threw away a 2-goal lead to tie 2-2 with Indiana in early June, conceded a last minute goal to Des Moines in their 3-2 defeat in early July, and were hammered 4-0 by Chicago Fire Premier on the last day of the season. De Souza was the top marksman of a team which had trouble scoring goals - he found the net just six times all year, while Marcelo Santos contributed three assists.

Whatever coach Colistro did during the 2006-07 offseason worked wonders, because Chill started the 2007 with a bang. They rattled off four wins in their first five games of the season, including a 3-1 opening day road victory over Sioux Falls Spitfire, and a 3-0 win at home over Springfield Demize. They key man for Chill was striker Brandon Swartzendruber, who seemingly found the net at will. He got a pair of braces in Chill's 5-0 and 6-0 drubbings of Springfield in late June and mid-July, scored a hat trick in their hugely satisfying 4-0 thumping of Des Moines Menace, and got another pair in Chill's 2-1 win over the Menace on the last day of the regular season. That final day victory also secured the Heartland Division title for Thunder Bay by three points over second place St. Louis Lions, and confirmed their trip to the PDL post-season for the first time. Despite losing their Conference Semi-final 3-1 to Chicago Fire Premier, it was nevertheless testament to the longevity of the franchise and the hard work of head coach Colistro that success was finally coming their way. Swartzendruber was of course Chill's top scorer, with 16 goals, while Gustavo Oliveira contributed 15 assists.

If Thunder Bay thought 2007 was good, then 2008 was beyond their wildest dreams. The team lost just two games all season, and finished their regular season campaign top of Heartland Division for the second straight year, a full 13 points clear of their nearest rivals, Colorado Rapids U23's. Both their losses came against Des Moines Menace, 3-1 on the second day of the season, and 5-1 on the road at the end of a long trek to Missouri and Iowa in which Chill played six games in eight days. In almost every other game, however, Chill simply outclassed their opponents, with striker Brandon Swartzendruber leading the way once more. They registered a number of impressive victories: 5-0 over Kansas City Brass, 3-0 over St. Louis Lions and Springfield Demize, and a superb 4-game home stand at the end of the season in which they 14 goals, including a 5-1 hammering of Springfield Demize in the penultimate regular season game. Chill headed to the post-season ranked second in the country, and dispatched the Colorado Rapids U23's 3-1 in the divisional playoff round before making the trip to Pontiac, Michigan for the Central Conference tournament. They overcame Cleveland Internationals 2-0 in the semi-final despite playing the entire second half with nine men, and hammered surprise finalists Kalamazoo Outrage 4-0 to take the Central Conference title. Western Conference champions Vancouver Whitecaps Residency travelled to Chapples Park for an all-Canadian national semi-final; Alvaro Zendejas scored a 90th-minute winner in front of 1,546 fans to send Thunder Bay to the PDL Championship game for the first time. Defending champions Laredo Heat awaited them in the televised final; Thunder Bay had Scott Milroth sent off in the second half, but managed to hold Heat to a 1-1 tie thanks to Gustavo Oliveira's goal, and won the resulting penalty shoot-put thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Stephen Paterson. Swartzendruber and Jeremy Gold were Chill's top scorers, with 22 goals between them for the season.

Notable former players

This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.

Year-by-year

Year Division League Regular Season Playoffs Open Canada Cup
2000 4 USL PDL 6th, Heartland Did not qualify Did not participate
2001 4 USL PDL 4th, Heartland Did not qualify Did not participate
2002 4 USL PDL 6th, Heartland Did not qualify Did not participate
2003 4 USL PDL 4th, Heartland Did not qualify Did not participate
2004 4 USL PDL 4th, Heartland Did not qualify Did not participate
2005 4 USL PDL 4th, Heartland Did not qualify Did not participate
2006 4 USL PDL 7th, Heartland Did not qualify Did not participate
2007 4 USL PDL 1st, Heartland Conference Semi-finals Did not participate
2008 4 USL PDL 1st, Heartland Champions N/A
2009 4 USL PDL 2nd, Heartland Divisional Semi-finals N/A
2010 4 USL PDL 1st, Heartland National Final N/A
2011 4 USL PDL 1st, Heartland National Semi-finals N/A
2012 4 USL PDL 1st, Heartland Conference Semi-finals N/A
2013 4 USL PDL 1st, Heartland National Final N/A
2014 4 USL PDL 3rd, Heartland Did not qualify N/A
2015 4 USL PDL 2nd, Heartland Conference Semi-finals N/A
2016 4 USL PDL 2nd, Heartland Conference Semi-finals N/A

Honours

Head coaches

Stadiums

Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive.[1]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html
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