Thunder Bay Chill News Release -- www.thunderbaychill.com
Thursday July 12, 2012
THUNDER BAY, Ontario – The last time the Kansas City Brass (6-7-1) made their way to Thunder Bay was almost four years ago to the day. That was in 2008 when the Thunder Bay Chill (11-2-1) went on to win the 2008 PDL Championship. Perhaps this appearance by the Brass could be a good omen for what lies ahead in the Chill’s playoff journey.
The Chill won both of those home games and have not been beaten by the Brass since 2006. The Chill are 7-1-2 lifetime against the Brass and have rattled off seven straight victories since 2008, five of which have been in Kansas City.
The Chill head into this weekend already having won the Heartland Division and have secured a sixth consecutive spot in the postseason. The Brass cannot make the playoffs, but they have an opportunity to secure a spot in next year’s U.S. Open Cup competition. The top two U.S. teams in the Heartland Division will qualify for the prestigious American tourney should the format remain the same as this year’s competition in 2013. In order to achieve this they will have to beat Thunder Bay twice and look for some help from the St. Louis Lions, who would have to defeat the Des Moines Menace on Sunday evening. A Menace win would clinch the prospective Open Cup spot for them along with the Real Colorado Foxes.
Beating the Chill at home will not be an easy task for the Brass. The Chill have not lost in the last 16 regular season and playoff games at home. The last loss at home was on July 24, 2010 against the Rochester Thunder. However, the Brass come to town having won three of their last four games. Midfielder Jordan Green leads the Brass with seven goals and 10 assists for 24 points. That is good enough for second in all of the PDL and within four points of the points title.
The two teams did not meet at all in 2011. The Chill will be without captain Sicelo Buthelezi, who was ejected from last Saturday’s game against the Des Moines Menace for picking up a second yellow, and without midfielder Jordian Farahani, who will miss one game due to accumulating six cautions to date. In addition, the Chill has lost midfielder Abraham Villon for the remainder of the season due to an upper body injury.
As a result, the Chill signed two veteran players prior to the roster freeze deadline on July 11, 2012. Out of retirement to help out with the midfield injuries to Villon, Matt Luak (broken ankle) and Skandar Babay will be former captain Wilson Neto and Gustavo Oliveira.
“With the injuries to Matt and now more recently to Abraham, we had to bring in some assistance to our midfield” said Colistro.
To add to the Chill’s midfield woes is Dominic Roberts who also is nursing a quad injury and was unable to play last Saturday in Des Moines. He should be cleared for Friday night vs. Kansas.
“We think that Dominic will be able to play this weekend, but you can see the problems we are facing with the injuries and suspensions”, said Colistro.
The Chill are hoping that the Central Conference playoff on July 20th and 21st will be held in Thunder Bay; however, two Chill wins and two losses by the Michigan Bucks this final weekend would need to happen to open up that opportunity for the Chill. The winner of the Central Conference will then play in the PDL National Semifinal on July 28th. A successful campaign by the Chill in the Central Conference will give the Chill another opportunity to host the game if a successful bid is accepted by the league.
The Chill will play their final regular league season games this weekend against Kansas City and are hoping that Thunder Bay fans will get out to support the team. The club has struggled this season with attendance due to poor weather conditions and is hoping this weekend will bring the average attendance up.
“Our attendance will be important to show the league that we are capable of to host a quality play-off environment that will be supported by fans so hopefully people can get out this weekend,” said General Manager, John Marrello.