by Jason Minnick

Wednesday, August 5, 2008

TAMPA – Drawing parallels between the teams in this year’s Premier Development League North American Finals is like finding similarities between hot and cold, or rather, the Heat and the Chill. The only thing harder is actually traveling from Thunder Bay, Ontario to Laredo, Texas.

“There will definitely be a temperature change,” said Thunder Bay Head Coach Tony Colistro Tuesday. “I am looking forward to telling the guys the good news today [Tuesday] at practice – the temperature forecast in Laredo on game day dropped from 107 to 103.”

If you cross-reference the names of the two cities on Google, there are only three things the polar opposite cities have in common: Premier Development League soccer, Interstate 35 and a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo that is for sale in Thunder Bay.

“I am not too familiar with Laredo,” said Colistro. “I have watched them in the league final the past two years, but other than that there are not a lot of opportunities to see them play.”

“I know our [Heartland] division is physical and we [Thunder Bay] are well balanced,” added Colistro. “We can defend well, we have a good goalkeeper in [Stephen] Paterson, and we have the ability to go forward. We can adjust to any style of play.”

Adjusting is going to be very important this weekend, but adapting is not something the Chill could do well before last season, a time in which they went 44-72-8.

“We had our ups and downs for a while,” said Colistro, the only coach in Thunder Bay history. “The last two seasons have been our best because we were able to attract more quality players. This season has really been big from an education standpoint.

“People around Thunder Bay didn’t realize that this was a 67 team league,” he added. “They thought the [six team] Heartland Division was our league. When we won the Heartland people thought we had won the whole thing. Then we won again and the community noticed Vancouver was coming to town. And they know the Whitecaps from the NASL, so that helped our image. Now we’re telling them we are going to be on national television on Fox Soccer Channel. That really put things into perspective. People are starting to understand that this is the third division of soccer here in Canada.”

The team’s biggest offseason jump was the 2006 to 2007 season. After finishing 2-11-3 in 2006, the club obtained Brandon Swartzendruber, who scored a goal per game in 2007 and Gustavo Oliveira, who handed out 15 assists last season.

“Our expectations changed around the time we brought in Brandon Swartzendruber,” said Colistro. “He is a great center forward that a lot of teams would love to have. He isn’t flashy. He just works hard for 90 minutes and gets the job done. He could have moved up to USL First Division this season but he decided he wanted to come back and try to win a PDL Championship.”

Colistro raised the bar again this season, adding 15 newcomers including Jeremy Gold (9 goals, 5 assists) and Scott Milroth, a defender who scored only once in the regular season but has turned it on in playoffs, netting a goal in each of the last two matches.

“Scott was one of the last guys we recruited,” said Colistro. “He is one of the reasons why we are so steady in the back. The last few games he has been able to use his 6’6” frame to contribute huge goals on set pieces. We are very fortunate to have him.”

The only step left for Thunder Bay to take is 1,746 miles South in Laredo. There, on Saturday, August 9, the snowball will take on hell.