MN Super Cup Final: St Croix Legends 3-0 Mpls City SC
The 2024 Minnesota Super Cup final on Thursday, July 25, featured cross-town rivals St Croix Legends and Minneapolis City SC, both making their first appearance in the championship game. St. Croix closed out a high-octane performance with a 3-0 win, leaving Macalester Stadium with a cup and a clean sheet.
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The inaugural final in 2023 saw Med City FC defeat the MNUFC U-19s for their last piece of hardware before folding in the offseason. This year's match-up was a little more personal, with an added dose of friendly competition. Following their meeting in the USL-2 regular season finale, which City won 2-0 on St. Croix's own turf, Thursday's match leveled the Oliver Derby.
Head coach Tyler Oliver's Legends had a slight edge over Justin Oliver's Crows, as the latter lost a handful of key defenders to the college season since that last match. The Legends capitalized on that shuffled backline early, opening the scoring in the 13th minute. Asher Ozuzu ran it in from midfield on a breakaway, slipping a shot past City goalkeeper Evan Siefken.
"I do think we got some great performances from three CBs who stepped up and played their first minutes of the season there," said City head coach Justin Oliver. "Andrew [Soczynski], Sam [Keading] and Tomas [Menna] were all very good today and I’m so proud of their performances. That legends attack is really good and really dangerous so to only concede one through the run of play from them was big time."
Ozuzu's tally was the only goal to come from the run of play. Soczynski, Keading, and Menna, all grew into the match, which became more chippy and physical as the officials became more and more likely to call fouls by the Crows while saying 'play on' after similar fouls by Legends.
St. Croix scored their second goal in the 43rd minute, this from a freekick in a crowded box. Siefken and a number of defenders called for a handball but it was ruled a goal for St. Croix's Stu Sain. City had a few decent chances, including a corner kick in stoppage time but the ball was skied over the crossbar, allowing the Legends a 2-0 lead at the break.
Nathan Donovan made it 3-0 less than a minute into the second half, another set piece that found Siefken's defenders off guard.
Legends head coach Tyler Oliver praised his players' offensive efforts: "Massive credit to the guys on our team today for creating a ton of chances and executing at a high rate on set pieces which was going to be strength of ours heading into the game because of no Kent brothers and others in the back. The game plan was to attack space and attack in transition today as that’s where we are the most dangerous and it showed today with Evan [Siefken] making a high high number of saves and Nolan [Meyer] being relatively uncalled on today especially in the opening 65 minutes."
While the Crows spent plenty of time in the Legends' final third through the last half hour of the match, they were unable to find a consolation goal. Had the match gone on for another 10 or 20 minutes, Sidike Jebatah could have leveled it himself on will, but he could not buy a goal in 90 minutes. Henri Tophoven and Eli Goldman also threw themselves forward.
"I thought we were brilliant on the ball today and just didn’t have that final ball or that finishing touch one of them was always missing," Justin said of the Crows' effort. "Tons of respect for St. Croix and they earned a win tonight by capitalizing off some moments we didn’t compete well enough on."
He continued: "We went into the game with the same plan as always which is to press and defend as high up the field as possible while also always trying to build and play as much as possible too. The squad was absolutely good enough to win and get a result with a lot of guys that featured a lot this season and also a lot guys that were playing the first or first couple games of the season for us. We unfortunately didn’t defend set pieces well enough today and went down 2-0 on them."
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As the players' focus shifts to the college season, so too for the Oliver brothers. Justin will return to his head coaching role at St. Olaf. Tyler, who serves as men's head coach at Hamline, said, "It’s always great to coach against Justin. He won national coach of the year at the D3 level for a reason and he showcased that with City this summer as well. Nice to get one over him heading into the fall where it’s a tall task again."
The Minnesota Super Cup will return for a third year in 2025 and, for the first time, will include a women's tournament. Billed as "a showcase of the best pre-professional soccer talent in Minnesota", the tournament has raised the interest and stakes in the state's lower division market and added an extra layer of competition to the season. A touch of brotherly - and perhaps, one day, sisterly - rivalry is a nice keystone in that growth.
UPSL-W Spotlight: NOSC Blast defeat Aurora 2 to raise conference trophy
On Sunday, MN Aurora FC 2 concluded their inaugural year with their first and only loss of the season, falling 2-1 to NOSC Blast (and the league's leading goal scorer) late in extra time. While Aurora 2 was not able to lift the championship trophy at TCO Stadium (now an unsavory tradition for the franchise), the club remains proud and hopeful of its continued success.
With Blast matching Aurora's results throughout the summer, ending the regular season with an identical 9-0-2 (W-L-D) record but a lower goal differential, Aurora head coach Mandy Pochabradsky expected - and wanted - a final showcasing the best against the best.
"We expected them to be good with the ball, which they were, and that's something we anticipated from the first match [of the season] to this match," she said following the game. "They had a couple of new players that were able to come in, which was good to see. And at the end of the day, we wanted to have our best group against their best group. I think that's what makes for the most entertaining and worthwhile games."
Despite a heat advisory and glaring sun, a few hundred fans took advantage of the free admission to enjoy one last game in Eagan before moving on with their summer. While it was a low scoring game, both teams played a fast-paced first half in which both goalkeepers, Bayliss Flynn of Aurora and Lauren McAlpine of Blast, each registered a handful of saves and close calls in the first half hour.
It wasn't until the 34th minute that Aurora finally found the first goal. Starting forward Ava Westlund received a ball from Maya Dempsey, broke through traffic in the box, catching McAlpine off her line, and sent a shot under the back-stepping keeper. The 1-0 lead (and Westlund's 15th goal of the season) deserved a little extra flair.
The lead did not last for long, however. In stoppage time before the half, Jessica Eischens sent a shot on frame, well wide of where Flynn was tracking another runner, leveling the match just before the whistle.
While both teams made a few changes going into the second half, Blast had the impact sub. Berit Parten, the league's leading scorer with 18 goals in the regular season, sat out the first half. It only took the casual viewer ten minutes into the second half to see why she was held back. Despite putting their own fresh legs into action, Aurora was caught flat-footed repeatedly by Parten's late runs. She would hold back in midfield as her team's attack developed before committing to run and would then charge right into each defender, finding every gap. But for 45 minutes, Aurora's midfield and backline held her off and found ways to disrupt the developing runs. When that didn't work, Flynn made some massive saves to keep Aurora in the game.
The entire final half hour of regulation felt like a golden goal moment, but they remained locked up at 1-1, sending the match into extra time (two 15-minute periods). Finally, in the 115th minute (the 25th minute of extra time), there was a goal - by Parten.
Goalkeeper Bayliss Flynn described Parten's freekick and Blast's efforts leading up to it:
"They just had so many numbers right at the top of the box and then they would draw us. We had a lot of fouls and that's hard not to do when it's such a physical back and forth match. And then on that freekick - I already watched the video back and the wall was good. It was an amazing strike and just curved right."
Blast held on to the lead for the remaining five minutes of extra time and the vistiors' bench erupted at the final whistle. A long, tough game that had everything a championship final should have - heat (literal and metaphorical), tension, exciting plays, a late decision to end even play.
Aurora 2 walked away with the runners-up trophy but left everything else on the field.
"This team had never played together before May 6," Pochabradsky reflected. "So to come into such a quick season and get them to adapt and, as I told them at the end, we took care of the process. The results don't always follow but continuing to take care of the process will get them in the direction that they want to go."
USL-2 Spotlight: MPLS City SC vs Thunder Bay Chill
Minneapolis City SC closed out their home season with a 2-1 win over the Thunder Bay Chill on Friday night. Not only did the Crows melt the Chill for three points, but they also tallied a win for their stadium neighbor, M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital.
Dubbed the Gene Party, Friday's festivities featured a denim print kit and a halftime selfie with a crowd full of denim. The event was inspired by Evan Menk, son of City member Scott Menk, who received a gene therapy treatment at Masonic Children's. [Click here to read more and to donate to the cause.]
https://twitter.com/mplscitysc/status/1812155412449271846
Fans who were there to watch the soccer (in their weather-adapted denim outfits) were also treated to a pretty good game.
After losing to the Chill 3-2 on Canadian soil last Friday, the 5th, the Crows got their revenge at Edor Nelson Field with two first half goals. It took Mizael Harris only 10 minutes to find the opener, a quick volley past the Chill's goalkeeper, player/coach Francesco Leuzzi. Minneapolis keeper Evan Siefken came up with a few big stops to keep the Chill off the board, despite a few of the attacking runs that made the Canadians successful the previous Friday. Just before the halftime whistle, Sidike Jabateh found a lane in a crowded box through which he smashed a volley into the net to double the hosts' lead.
Despite a flurry of chances in the second half, which included a few nutmeg spectacles, the Crows were held to their 2-0 lead until the 85th minute when Loris Tsiatsipy sent a ball past Siefken into the bottom right corner. Siefken kept busy for the remaining minutes of regulation, plus six minutes of stoppage time, to close out the game without another goal.
The win was a great way to close out the Crows' home season, one that started with some ups and downs. While Thunder Bay will continue on to conference playoffs, City capped off their league season on Sunday with a 2-0 road win over St Croix Legends. City still has the MN Super Cup final (against St Croix) to look forward to on Thursday, July 25. Northern Lights will be there to provide live updates and recap the action.
UPSL-Women Spotlight: Aurora 2 extends unbeaten inaugural season into championship game
Minnesota Aurora FC 2 remains unbeaten in their inaugural season with a win on Friday night against Superior City FC. Aurora 2, the 1st seed in the Midwest West, hosted 4th seed Superior with an appearance in the conference final on the line.
Aurora 2 | 4-1 | Superior
Aurora 2 opened the scoring early when Ellie Primerano received a ball on the run from Mandy Elton in the 5th minute and beat Superior goalkeeper, Katelyn Olson, with a shot to the far post. Ava Westlund doubled the lead in the 16th, with an assist by Primerano. The trio of Primerano, Elton, and Ava Westlund, had a natural chemistry in Aurora's offense from the first game but seemed to improve with every match. The three have scored a combined 30 goals in the regular season, out of the club's total, 45.
The squads traded midfield runs and shots that tested both keepers (Olson for SCFC and Bayliss Flynn for Aurora 2) until Superior finally found a breakthrough in the 32nd minute. Molly Henderson's goal was a long time coming as, after forcing some Flynn to make a number of saves, she was finally able to beat Flynn and hammer a ball into the net. The score remained 2-1 at halftime.
The second half began slowly, with legs beginning to feel the pace of the first half and the weight of the humidity. While Aurora had nearly a full squad in reserve (nine players total), Superior brought only four available subs and were forced to pick and choose their moments to sub players. Last ditch defense by Superior through the first 25 minutes denied a handful of run-of-play chances from Aurora, forcing the hosts to take three consecutive corner kicks. Aurora capitalized on the third, served in by Aleah Treiterer in the 70th minute to Bailey Dodds.
Ten minutes later, Primerano notched a brace, this time assisted by Westlund, a banger of a goal that made it a 4-1 game. Superior nearly benefited from some chaos in front of Aurora's goal in stoppage time but Flynn and her backline smothered the chance and held on to the 4-1 lead until the final whistle.
"It was a good game," said Aurora 2 head coach Mandy Pochobradsky. "They challenged us in ways that we weren't necessarily expecting or anticipating but, to see the players be able to adapt and grow together and I think that's the momentum we want to take moving forward."
Aurora 2 v. NOSC Blast
That momentum will be tested by Sunday's opponent, NOSC Blast. Blast finished the regular season in second place, tied with Aurora 2 on record and points but behind on goal differential (Blast +36, Aurora +38).
The clubs faced off once this season, on May 29th, fighting their way to a 1-1 draw. That was the only match in which Aurora 2 scored just one goal. Aside from that proven defense, the Blast boast the league's leading goal scorer, Berit Parten, who tallied 18 goals in the regular season. (Ava Westlund's 13 goals put her in a three-way tie for second behind Parten.)
On Sunday, Aurora 2 hopes to have an edge, hosting the match at TCO Stadium rather than at Concordia. Aurora will continue their campaign to make soccer more accessible by offering free admission to all who wish to attend. The franchise sent this statement to community members and media on Saturday:
"To make soccer accessible for everyone, admission to the match will be free. No tickets are required for entry. Fans are encouraged to consider a donation of $10 per person to support Aurora and the growth of soccer in Minnesota.
As part of the club's commitment to fostering talent and nurturing young players, Aurora 2 provides a platform for emerging athletes to showcase their skills and develop within a highly competitive soccer environment."
Whatever the result, the match played in front of what has the potential to be the largest crowd for a UPSL Women's game this season will be a positive end to the season. If Aurora 2 win on Sunday, they will lift the franchise's first trophy - a long awaited moment at TCO Stadium, where the senior team has suffered only one loss in three seasons.
Minnesota Aurora FC 2 will kickoff against NOSC Blast at 5 PM CT on Sunday, July 14. Follow Northern Lights Football for live coverage.
MN Aurora FC dances into third postseason appearance
Minnesota Aurora FC danced into their third consecutive postseason berth last week with a pair of road wins that clinched the Heartland Division and added to the franchise's records. Aurora will have to get through a rematch with Indy Eleven on Friday to advance to the Conference final on Sunday but, both players and coaches like their chances, especially if they hold to their one-match mentality.
Rewind: Path to Playoffs
June 27 (Milwaukee, Wis.): Bavarian United FC 0-7 MN Aurora FC
Aurora clinched their playoff spot with a shutout against Bavarian but they had a slow start, not finding the net until the 27th minute. Saige Wimes' goal, which came from a Bavarian turnover, opened the floodgates. A Katie Duong penalty kick and a strike from Mariah Nguyen to finish a box-to-box team goal (Kelis Barton to Wimes to Nguyen) sent Aurora into the break with a 3-0 lead.
Wimes scored a brace in the 52nd minute (4-0). Substitute Sophie French scored in the 56th (5-0) with a strike from distance after another turnover and again in the 72nd on a cornerkick served by Katie Duong (6-0). Giada Zhou added yet another banger in the 86th to end Aurora's night with a 7-0 win.
June 29 (Racine, Wis.): RKC Third Coast 0-14 MN Aurora FC
On Saturday, it took a heavily rotated Aurora only six minutes to find their first goal. Once again, Katie Duong sent a beautiful ball into the box, finding Tess Werts who chipped it over the shoulder of RKC goalkeeper Ella Kratochvil (1-0). Kratochvil made five saves before Giada Zhou doubled Aurora's lead in the 33rd minute following a poor clearance. French and Duong each added a goal before the break. The second half escalated more quickly.
Cat Rapp tallied four goals in 19 minutes (51'Klecezewski. “Two games, as we continue to prepare for the playoffs. We came focused on our attacking objectives and prepared ourselves for some great opponents coming up.”, 53', 62', 70'), book-ending three more goals from Wimes (57'), Lydia Ruppert (57'), and Kaylie Chambers (67') which put Aurora up 11-0 with twenty minutes still on the clock. But it didn't end there. Morgan Stone, a Chambers brace, and Sofia Bush, made it 14-0 on the night. If not for 'keeper Kratochvil the final tally could have been well above 20, but 14 marked a new franchise record goals-per-game for Aurora. Cat Rapp's haul (4 goals - a hat trick plus one) was also a franchise first.
Depth In Action: 21-0 Weekend
While players like Cat Rapp, a three-year Aurora vet, and Katie Duong, a 2024 signing (who has now scored in seven straight matches) continue to put on standout performances match after match, the 21-0 weekend showed the depth and creativity of the squad. The final weekend of the regular season saw veterans and newcomers climb the franchise leader boards:
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And, while the score may be excessive, it is also preparation. Assistant Coach Tom Klecezewski said, "We came [to Wisconsin] focused on our attacking objectives and prepared ourselves for some great opponents coming up.”
Central Conference Playoffs
Detroit City FC won their bid to host the Central Conference playoffs at Keyworth Stadium. On Friday, July 5, Aurora (1st seed) will play Indy Eleven (3rd seed) while host Detroit City (2nd) will play wild card River Light (4th). No, this is not a seeding error: USL-W's 2024 playoff structure states that inter division match-ups will be avoided in the first round whenever possible. Thus, the Heartland Division's 2nd place finisher, River Light, will not face 1st place MN Aurora, despite being assigned the 4th and 1st seeds, respectively.
After training on Wednesday, a portion of which was open to the media, coach Colette Montgomery was asked about having to travel for the first playoff game despite Aurora earning the first seed. She gave a well thought out response about the league's goal to expand the various marketplaces within the league and to give clubs with the means to host a chance to do so. Montgomery added that clubs like Aurora have a role to play in other markets, not just their own, and she hopes they can "maybe influence some young boys and girls in Detroit to play soccer and love the game."
A change of scenery brings new excitement - and challenges - to the game for players. Defender Lillie French told NLF, "It's also exciting to play out in a different stadium. I can't wait. I love playing at different places. Obviously I wish we were home but, it's nice to see something new. It's like a challenge." As for their opponent, the squad is not caught up on past results. "I'm excited to get outside of our division and play a team outside just to see what that competition is like and I know that Aurora has faced this team in the past, but you know, every year it's different so I'm excited to see that."
Indy Eleven isn't a completely new opponent for Aurora. The Valley Division side beat Aurora on their way to winning the championship trophy in 2023. While some standout players remain (most notably goalkeeper Nona Reason and forward Katie Soderstrom), Indy's 2024 division title was followed by the departure of head coach Paul Dolinsky.
Still, Aurora's staff has done their homework. "We've scouted them well. We know what they do well. We lock into what we want to do and we take our game to them," Montgomery said. "Hopefully we get that finished."
"Returning players have really brought that kind of unfinished business perspective to this. And I think that really drives the squad as a whole. We know that we're grateful for what's been done. And we're not content to leave it where it is. And so we're going to do our best to put out the best performance this weekend." - Colette Montgomery, Aurora Head Coach/Sporting Director
Unfinished Business & the Aurora Way
Lillie French, who joined Aurora's roster in June following a season with Heidelberg United FC (Melbourne, Aus.), has a unique perspective on the match-up. She watched her twin sister, Sophie, play in the match against Indy last season. She watched the 'unfinished business' mindset in action as she joined the squad for training under Montgomery in 2024. Now, after playing in a handful of games herself, Lillie is confident in the mixed team of veterans and newcomers who bring the intensity day after day:
"I think we have such a strong crew and all the girls on the team are so, so strong and so skillful that I think, going into playoffs, it's just another game for us. I mean there's high stakes, but we're just going into it like it's just another opponent. Like we got this, focusing on us - not really on the [opposing] team, just focusing on what we do and then trying to execute that. So we're really excited."
Aurora worked hard to match in 2024 the successes of their first two seasons. A whole new coaching staff and a nearly even mix of new players and returning/third-year players, had to work together to bring another undefeated season to fruition.
"Coach Lukic and her staff have built that tradition of the high press and being relentless and going after lots of goals and scoring," said Montgomery. "We all know that in sports really, the difference between being at a good level and being at the highest level comes down to mentality. I'm really proud of this group. The way that they really build that tenacity and resilience, the willingness to do the work off the ball and on the ball, play with freedom and creativity and ,as easy as it is to say that, it's very hard to create an environment where players have ownership over that. So disciplined defense can lead to creativity in the attack. It's hard to do that. But I believe that together we've created that environment and are really thriving."
On Friday, Aurora will have to find a way to carry that tenacity forward into the postseason. The club entered their third season with two division titles, one conference title, and a championship runners-up finish to their name. So far in 2024, they have added a third division title. Winning out this weekend to add another conference title would be a balm on the sting of 2023. Winning it all would remove chips from a few shoulders. But first, Friday...
Up Next
Conference semifinal: Minnesota Aurora FC v. Indy Eleven (match info courtesy of MNAFC):
USL-W Spotlight: MN Aurora vs Chicago Dutch Lions
In May, Minnesota Aurora opened their season with a 8-0 win over the Chicago Dutch Lions on the road (at Aurora University in Aurora, Illinois). On Sunday, June 16, Aurora welcomed the Dutch Lions to Eagan’s TCO Stadium, the Heartland Division leaders hosting the bottom of the table. With only a 1 point lead over CDL’s stadium mate, River Light, going into the weekend, Aurora needed a win to stay atop the Heartland Division table. While River Light put up 12 unanswered goals on 6th place RKC, Aurora tallied 6 over the 7th place Chicago Dutch to maintain the lead.
Two first half goals highlighted 45 minutes of attacking spurts. Mariah Nguyen tallied the first in the 16th minute on the rebound after a shot from Sophie French hit the crossbar. French found the net in the 23rd minute to take Aurora up 2-0. CDL goalkeeper Abigail O’Connor made a handful of saves to hold Aurora to two in the first half while Aurora’s back-line picked apart every Chicago offensive sequence early. The visitors’ best chance came from a free kick in the 36th minute. Olivia Anderson lined up the shot, set just outside Aurora’s 18 yard box, and was able to clear the defense’s wall but put a little too much spin on the ball to curl it under the crossbar, sending it high instead.
Nicole Norfolk, whose presence and work rate has been praised by teammates and coaches alike in her first season with the club, explained that the back line stayed engaged by reading the pitch for the midfield: “You’re communicating and helping the attack, giving them information on who’s open on the field, how to break down the other team. I think that helps keep the back line engaged and locked in on the game so that we can stay focused, so that when it’s the other team transitioning, then we're ready to go because we’re locked in and paying attention.”
Norfolk also had a front-row seat to a midfield performance that opened the floodgates for Aurora in the second half: “Our midfielders connected really well. I thought they were able to find each other’s feet a lot, and then get balls out wide. You know, I thought there was variation in our attack as well, obviously the set pieces we were successful on as well.”
Katie Duong and Servane Blouin entered at halftime (for French and Jelena Zibiljic respectively) and so began the clinic. Duong sent a screamer into goal in the 55th minute to make it 3-0. She had options but, “I’ve been trying to work on my long distance shot so I decided to hit it,” she said. Duong then notched an assist, sending a ball to Sofia Bush in the 57th minute for a cool finish, 4-0 -- Bush’s first goal contribution of the season.
After skimming the crossbar with a freekick attempt in the 60th minute, Duong got another chance at a dead ball in the 63rd when she served a corner kick to the head of an unmarked Addy Weichers, 5-0. In the 75th minute, Duong did it again, this time finding Morgan Stone, in the same space and unmarked just as Weichers had been. Stone’s header made it 6-0.
“I usually just try to deliver it into a good area and I feel like we have so many aerial assets on this team that make it super easy - someone always gets on the end of it,” Duong said, a composed and casual answer for a player who tallied a goal and three assists in a 45 minute shift.
“I think watching from the sideline, my biggest goal was just to bring some energy into the game,” she continued. “I mean, it’s a hot day out and I felt like we were able to do that. I think Servane [Blouin] did awesome getting her first minutes and she made two or three huge tackles out there.”
Aurora’s roster is deep, even with a handful of players still working back from injury or otherwise unavailable. Duong and Norfolk were both quick to praise teammates when talking about day’s victory and Duong seemed to deliberately use the phrase ‘game changers’ in place of ‘substitutes’ in one instance, a choice later clarified by head coach Colette Montgomery.
“We have the mentality that they’re not necessarily substitutes, they’re game changers,” Montgomery said when asked about squad rotation. “Again we’re asking for professional performances from the team, finding ways to break down teams’ defense from the final third,” she said. “Obviously [I’d] still like to be a little bit more clinical with some of those finishes but overall a great team performance [tonight].”
Six goals on the board was obviously an improvement after two consecutive matches that had Montgomery plotting finishing drills for the next day’s training. When NLF asked about this specifically, Montgomery said, “For the players, at the end I said, ‘I think you have all colluded to try to do this so we can keep working on scoring at training and give them [the fans] what they want.’ [But] at the end of the day it’s still hard to put goals on the board and so again, [it’s] a cast of characters that have all different individual talents and [they’re] bringing those different qualities to the field and that's great to have.”
Aurora will play two more games at home this week (vs Bavarian on Thursday and Chicago City on Saturday) before finishing the regular season with two matches in Wisconsin. Four games don’t feel like much in these condensed schedules but they make up one-third of the regular season. Minnesota Aurora will need their depth to collect all the points they can to stay ahead of River Light.
USL-W Spotlight + Gallery: Aurora bests Rochester 2-1
On Thursday, June 6, Minnesota Aurora FC hosted Rochester FC in the first leg of the Minnesota Derby. The Rochester Loons kept the match close after conceding early, with their defense drawing the praise of Aurora coach and players, but the hosts found the breakthrough in spectacular fashion to win 2-1.
Despite scoring the opening goal in the third minute, Cat Rapp found a lot to be improved upon, for herself and for the team:
“I’m glad that we got the win but I think we could have done a lot more today We had a game plan. I think at some points we were able to execute it and others we weren’t able to do as we wanted,” she said. “But I’m glad we got the win. It shows that even when we’re not playing our best, we can still get results.”
“We wanted to start the game right but, you know, the game lasts for 90 minutes,” said head coach Colette Montgomery. “Sometimes scoring in the first couple of minutes is the worst thing you can do. You know, Rochester again shut things down. They’ve got – obviously – some really good individuals and you know, they’ve all had a really good game, some big saves as well.”
Rochester goalkeeper Emma Knack was key to keeping Aurora to just two goals on the night. At the other end, midfielder Aida Kardovic put Rochester on the board, scoring the equalizer in the 38th minute. The Creighton grad now has 5 goals this year for the Loons.
“They were just playing hard, obviously. We expect that from every single team. In particular that number seven [Kardovic], she was very good for them,” Rapp said. “I think she scored their goal off the free kick and she was very good, very technical.”
📹 EQUAL TIME EXCLUSIVE
Second look at the Putri Sazali to Aida Kardovic goal for @RochesterClub, including our goal line camera. https://t.co/9xcEI3nBKg pic.twitter.com/NOvfg1h7HY
— Equal Time Soccer (@EqualTimeSoccer) June 7, 2024
“We definitely have to give credit to their number seven,” echoed Jelena Zbiljic. “She was a baller. She was very good and hard to defend.”
Zbiljic scored the winner for Aurora, finding the far upper corner of the goal with a strike that coach Montgomery called a crot: “We call that a crot. Was it a cross or a shot so we call it a crot. At the end of the day the ball ends up in the back of the net so we’re happy with that.”
The ball found the back of the net and the play found the No. 6 spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 that night.
We really want you to see this, @SportsCenter https://t.co/hotSQjIo5f
— Minnesota Aurora FC (@MNAuroraFC) June 7, 2024
“I like being very helpful and crossing, or just taking people on and going one-v-one,” Zbiljic explained. “So it’s kind of what I tried to do and then I kind of saw the keeper a little off her line and I just love to test the keeper and try to get a goal in and that’s exactly what happened.”
Aurora will go on the road this coming Thursday, June 13, to face Knack and Kardovic on their own turf. But first, Aurora (2nd) will host River Light FC (3rd) on Saturday night.
After coming out of the Rochester match feeling that her side was not as clinical as they’d like to be, Montgomery said, “The players know the standards and the expectation. And so we’re going to close the door on this one very quickly and move on to the Lights on the weekend.”
USL-W Spotlight: MN Aurora, Home and Away
(Photo by Seth Steffenhagen/Steffenhagen Photography)
Minnesota Aurora's home opener on Thursday, May 30, proved that Teal is still the real deal. A flurry of goals from both veterans and newcomers showed that the inaugural squad's results were not a fluke and that the franchise can continue to draw and develop top talent. Aurora shut out RKC Third Coast with a 7-0 win in front of 5,092 fans.
Midfielder Mariah Nguyen became one of the faces of the franchise in 2022 and her game has only gotten better. The Andover-native will begin her senior year at the University of St Thomas in the fall, where this past August, Nguyen was named TicketSmarter's Summit League Offensive Peak Performer of the Week for registering a hat trick in UST's 7-0 win against Niagara. She registered another for Minnesota Aurora on Thursday, on top of assisting in each of the opening two goals, scored by Addison Weichers and Saige Wimes. The hat trick earned her Star Tribune Player of the Game honors.
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"Pregame we just agreed, you know, we had to start really strong," Nguyen said. "We wanted to put on a show. It was an amazing turnout tonight, 5000-something right? So we knew - We just wanted to put away as many as we can as fast as possible. And at halftime, it is the same thing, just cleaning up so minor issues that we had in midfield, finding each other and stuff like that, and yeah exploiting their pockets."
(Photo by Seth Steffenhagen/Steffenhagen Photography)
Cat Rapp scored a brace and both goals were bangers, the first pinging off the crossbar to bounce down and in, the second a tight angle shot to the far post. Rapp said of the first goal: "I was thinking: turn it and shoot. I've -- I was actually telling Addy [Weichers], we had worked on this after practice, I was just thinking, you know, this is the exact thing that we set up. It's like I'm just gonna turn and shoot it and aim for the corner, and that's what happened."
"Obviously, Cat Rapp is well known in these parts," said head coach Colette Montgomery. "She's a fan favorite. We've kind of been bringing her in a little bit, gave her that start in that 10 position, moved her into the nine. We know that she's a valuable player, going to score goals. And I'm not sure; I'll check with the statistics, but I'm pretty sure that she put herself in line to be in the top scorers of the franchise, so excited for her."
But the new faces are also making an impact and making their own names known.
"Saige [Wimes] has really impressed," Montgomery said. "You know, we've been bringing her back from a little niggle, but she's looking fantastic as you can see. I wasn't lying when I said we've got top caliber players. [She has] lots of movement off the ball. She's really quick footed, really creative in that final third, exactly what we've been asking the team for."
https://twitter.com/MNAuroraFC/status/1796340677623918978
Despite going into the break with a 4-0 lead, Montgomery said she emphasized continuing to play their game, to their ability for the full 90 minutes:
"We've challenged the players to play with excellence no matter what minute it is, how many goals are scored. We want to be as sharp through the 60-to-90th minute as possible. And the players that come off the bench, we call them game changers because we want them to come in and make an impact, challenge that starting group for spots and keep everybody on their toes."
For their part, RKC Third Coast put up a fight. While they conceded 7 goals and were unable to score any of their own, they still took home some positives. As centerback Ellie Rebmann told NLF, "Even though the score was not what we wanted, I do think that there were still many positives. Getting to play in a stadium with a crowd like we did was a great experience for starters, but I also think that we were really able to come together as a team. I think that we definitely had some good moments at times, and I think we defended pretty well as well."
Rebmann was key to the damage control making one particularly massive block that may have had a few reporters whistling in the pressbox.
"Honestly, all that went through my mind was that this player had a perfect shot open to the back post, and I knew I could get my body behind it to block it," Rebmann said. "I saw her take the shot and just tried to make sure i got my foot on it with enough power to get it out of the box."
https://twitter.com/EqualTimeSoccer/status/1796355814925705297
Adding three goals to their tally in the second half, Aurora stamped a big W on their home opener. But then they hit the road - Chicago again.
[Miss the match? Click to view our full photo gallery.]
"[We're] excited to be on the road for one game and then come back for a home game stretch. So excited to be back with the fans, be back in this environment." - Aurora Head Coach Colette Montgomery
Sunday saw Minnesota Aurora return to Chicago proper (ie. not Aurora, Ill.) to face Chicago City SC on the campus of Loyola. Chicago City holds first place in the division, having won all three games played prior to Sunday. Aurora sat in second after sharing a point with River Light on the previous road trip.
Sunday's match was pretty similar to the River Light game - a scrappy midfield battle interrupted at times by blocked crosses and shots into the box. City took the lead early after Aurora keeper Taylor Kane tackled an attacking player inside her box, giving Chicago City a penalty kick for DOGSO (Denial of an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity) in the 9th minute. The hosts converted to go up 1-0.
Aurora finally found the breakthrough in the 27th minute when Yao Zhou sent a freekick in to Kaylie Chambers to level at 1-1.
https://twitter.com/EqualTimeSoccer/status/1797363397958283553
Both sides had a number of chances in the second half but none found the goal; instead they gutted out another 63 minutes for a draw. And now, Aurora is done with their road trips to the Chicago area.
Minnesota Aurora will return to TCO Stadium on Thursday, June 6, to host Rochester FC. Then on Saturday, June 8, they will host River Light. TCO Stadium will be ready and waiting.
(Photo by Seth Steffenhagen/Steffenhagen Photography)
USL-W Match Preview: MN Aurora FC host RKC Third Coast
One week into the Heartland Division's 2024 season, MN Aurora returns to TCO Stadium on Thursday night after adding two away results to a regular season unbeaten record that dates back to their inaugural match in 2022. With plenty of new faces - including the entire coaching staff - joining stalwart returnees, Aurora has shown a continuation of the "Aurora way" on the road, but the first week of Heartland results highlights the increasing parity across the division and the W-League standard as a whole.
Aurora [at] Aurora [University in] Aurora [Illinois]
Aurora opened the season in Aurora, Ill., playing two matches at Aurora University. The opener was what everyone has come to expect from Aurora: Goals, early and often. The second match proved that there is room for growth and competition in the regular season.
On Thursday, May 23, Aurora outplayed the Chicago Dutch Lions 8-0. Given that the Dutch Lions lost to River Light FC by the same score on May 19, Aurora's eight goals may have taught us more about the Lions than Aurora. However, the variety of play-makers, goals, and goalscorers, kept the match intriguing.
The goals:
- 6' Sophie French, assisted by fellow returnee Jill Zbiljic from the corner
- 25' Giada Zhou makes her mark in her debut
- 50' French bags a brace
- 53' Tess Werts, who entered for Zbiljic after the break, scores just 8 minutes into her debut
- 57' Mariah Nguyen, back for year three, assisted by Werts
- 59' Werts notches the brace from distance (Yes, that's two goals and one assist less than 15 minutes into her shift)
- 75' Lydia Ruppert, another third-year returnee, assisted by newcomer Taylor Shell
- 77' Ruppert tallies Aurora's third brace and final goal on the night
Two returnees and one debutante accounted for six of the eight goals; the ever-improving Nguyen and confident newcomer Zhou added the other two.
On Saturday Aurora returned to Aurora University, this time to face the aforementioned River Light FC. After going into halftime scoreless, Aurora was the first to concede. River Light took the lead with a goal from Mya Nugent in the 53rd minute. Minutes later, Aurora leveled with a Sophie French header (off of a freekick this time) in the 55th. After that quick succession of goals, the two sides continued to battle it out in midfield without finding the goal. The 1-1 tie was Aurora's first since the club's inaugural home opener in 2022.
“River Light brought a great game against us, and we’re excited to have an opponent like this in the division," said first-year head coach Colette Montgomery. "Our players responded well to the game plan we put out there and the strategy we wanted to put in place today."
Both clubs made the USL-W Power Rankings for the week, with Aurora coming in at 10th and River Light 11th. Judging by the standings, River Light's performance on Saturday may have been a harbinger of a tough[er] season. Aurora has only been outscored by River Light and Chicago City SC but has a game in hand on both clubs. Aurora will get their first look at Chicago City this coming Sunday (at Chicago's Loyola University), but will first face RKC Third Coast.
Welcoming RKC Third Coast
RKC Third Coast opened their season at home on May 19, losing to Chicago City 4-2. After a week's rest, they traveled to Rochester FC, where they lost 3-2. Brielle Rochester scored both goals in the opening match while Haley Christianson tallied both goals against Rochester. RKC has returned 13 players from their inaugural 2023 roster but they do not have as many experienced players as Aurora.
In 2023, RKC's inaugural season, Aurora outscored them 18-1 across two head-to-head matches. Aurora's 2024 roster of 29 players features 12 returning players, a number of whom have already moved up a few rungs on the franchise's all-time goals and all-time points ladders.
Preseason thoughts from the coaches
"We've got exceptional leaders in the group and I'm very thankful for the returning players," Coach Montgomery said following at an open training session in preseason. "They know the Aurora Way and I'm learning that and bringing my pieces of that and seeing how we can collaborate." She reiterated later, "I'm very thankful for the veteran players that are here. This is a collaborative effort."
Goalkeeper coach Lucca Shimanuki is genuinely thrilled about the new experience, telling NLF after that same training session, "It's been amazing, to be honest, just working with Colette [Montgomery]. She's a fantastic coach, I know her from the past, I learned a lot from her, and just to be here in this new environment, which - it's where every soccer coach wants to be, at the highest level possible, and it can't get much better than this."
Returning goalkeeper Taylor Kane played every minute of the two matches on the road. Every indication is that she will get the nod again on Thursday at home. Shimanuki was impressed with the level she brought to training before the season started: "[Aurora] has always had solid goalkeepers and our defense was always something that we're proud of and we want to maintain that for this year. We have Taylor, a returner, and she's just been getting better and better every day. Every season, she's been fantastic."
Thursday evening will be many fans' first opportunity to see in-person the collaboration between the first-year staff, new players, and veteran players. It is also the first match of the season to be broadcast on TV, returning to Fox 9+ (TV) and Fox9.com. Northern Lights Football will also be there for live coverage and to recap all aspects of the event so follow along.
Recap & Photos: Aurora 2 vs Northern Tide
Bridget McDowell
Aurora2 played their home opener on Wednesday night, hosting Northern Tide FC at Sea Foam Stadium in St Paul, Minn. It was a convincing 3-0 win for Aurora, who improved to 2-0 on the season.
The home side got off to a quick start when Ava Grate scored in the 8th minute from Angie Knies’ corner service – Aurora’s second corner kick of the match. Aurora continued to put in crosses and corners, challenging Northern Tide goalkeeper Samantha Swidorski who held her own until a bobble in the 39th minute allowed Ellie Primerano a chance to tap in a rebound. One minute of stoppage time saw Aurora make the score 3-0 before the break.
Ava Westlund tallied the assist on that third and final goal and described the build up “Ellie [Primerano] had it up the middle. I made the run out wide, she timed it perfectly, played me; I sliced it across and then Mandy [Elton] finished it, two-time. It was a perfect combination.”
Northern Tide was able to put together a few runs to challenge Aurora’s midfield in the second half but, as in the first half, Aurora closed them down early and often. Westlund credited home pitch advantage for the shutout: “With our first game, we were getting into the group but being back to home field is totally different because we train here, we’re used to the field, the surface, everything […] The environment, the field, the team, we all came together really well.”
Aurora2 will play at home again on Saturday, hosting Granite City FC in front of a larger, mid-afternoon crowd.
USL-W | MN Aurora Enters Playoffs with A Fresh Slate, Despite Opening with A Rematch
The W League's second season has come to a close but playoffs are coming, fast and furious. Kettering University and its Atwood Stadium, in Flint, Michigan, will host the Central Conference semifinals on Thursday, July 6. The Heartland Division's wild cards will play first (at 2pm CST), in a meeting of familiar foes: Minnesota Aurora FC and Chicago City FC. Then (at 6 pm CST) Flint City AFC of the Great Lakes Division will face Indy Eleven of the Valley Division. The winners will face off in a quarterfinal match on Saturday, again at Atwood Stadium.
MN Aurora head coach Nicole Lukic and some players spoke with the media following the team's last practice before taking off* for Flint. Tuesday's open training followed a rare two-day break, a necessity ahead of what will hopefully be a continuing compact playoff schedule. "We've been mentally kind of grinded for fifty days or so with just, you know, a day off here and there," Lukic told NLF. "So I think the two days did everybody pretty well for their bodies and just mental energy. We had a good session today and we're excited to get over to Flint."
Minnesota Aurora bolstered their roster ahead of the trip, adding training player Ava Bjorkman Tracy to the squad. The UNC-Ashville player will be a depth option as Hannah Adler is on beach soccer national team duty this weekend and Kennedy Faulknor remains out with injury.
Thursday's opponent is the same squad Aurora faced in their home finale this past Saturday. Lineup tweaks throughout the match against Chicago City SC resulted in a 7-0 win, with six of those goals scored in the second half, but Lukic said not to look at that match as a preview of Thursday's game plan: "We were guessing that it would be back to back Chicago City games so we kept that in mind when we created our lineup on July 1, because we didn't want to do the exact same thing twice. So I would expect it [Thursday's lineup] to be a little different than it was on Saturday."
Midfielder Vienna Behnke, a Wisconsin native with pro experience in Iceland, says playoffs will be a fresh start. "It's just kind of a mindset shift of a whole new season starting, so the regular season means nothing. Now, even though we did really well and we do have a lot of good results [12-0, 60 goals], the slate is clean and we have to start over and prove ourselves right away."
After that near-fifty day grind, two days off felt strange to Behnke, in large part due to the team chemistry built through an intensive, compact season. For a pro (who will be available in the upcoming transfer window, by the way) to speak so highly of the experience with a squad - and league - largely composed of college players getting ready for the fall season and considering pro careers, speaks volumes of Aurora's program.
"I'm looking to play overseas again in this transfer window - hopefully I'll sign contracts now. So it's been a good preparation for me, as well. Just not going back to college, but to go back to another team," said Behnke. "[It's] just a really high level all around, even as we split up into our functional groups and stuff. Even that's a really high level. So it's been - I think everybody's gotten to improve and no matter where you're going afterward, I think it's been really good."
While Aurora has received a lot of attention for both the quality of their goals (with two SportsCenter Top 10 appearances in 2023) and the quantity (Behnke frequently wakes up to texts from teammates overseas asking if the other team got a touch on the ball), their coach remains balanced, still on those "neutral thoughts" from preseason:
"We've played them really well on Saturday, obviously, but we can't take any opponent for granted at this point. Everybody's earned their playoff spot. They worked, Chicago worked super hard to get here so I'm sure we're going to get their best from them."
Minnesota Aurora FC vs. Chicago City SC kicks off at 2 pm CST on Thursday, July 6. Aurora's broadcasting partner Fox9+ will carry the game.
* Notably, we mean "taking off" literally in this case. This is the first time the club has travelled by air for a match. Unfortunately, NLF was told that bus driver/cheerleader Stephen Barry of Jefferson Lines is not able to make the trip.
MN Aurora Closes Out 2023 with Shutout Against Chicago City SC
Minnesota Aurora FC closed out the 2023 regular season on Saturday night with a 7-0 shutout against second place Chicago City SC. With the win, Aurora secured a few big accomplishments: One of only two teams in the W League to go a perfect 12-0-0 (Tampa Bay United of the Southeast Division); the only team to score 60 goals on the season; the highest goal differential (56); and set a new W League attendance record.
Eagan's TCO Stadium was packed with 6,987 fans for the highly anticipated matchup between the Heartland Division's top two teams. The last matchup with Chicago City SC took place on a rainy day in Chicago and ended with a 3-1 win for Aurora. All four of those goals were made in the first half. "Chicago City played a good match and forced us to be better," head coach Nicole Lukic said after that match.
Saturday's meeting started off a bit differently. The fans had to wait over a half hour to sing for a goal. After a lot of time spent in the middle third, with both sides focused on dispossessing the other and cutting off breakaways, Minnesota eventually earned a corner kick in the 37th minute. Addy Weichers, as usual, sent in a picture-perfect ball, finding the head of Morgan Stone whose flick-on caught City goalkeeper, Lauren Keiser, off guard. The corner kick setup looked a little different from those in the previous 11 matches, in which half of the squad typically camped out in the box awaiting service, often with centerback Tianna Harris squared up for any kick taken by Weichers. This time a few more players held back, perhaps expecting a need to quell a City counterattack.
"It just took us a little bit to break them down," said Lukic. "Credit to Chicago - I thought they had a really good first half. They're a physical team that gave us a good matchup."
But that opening goal seemed to take an edge off of the squad's nerves. Aurora went into the break with a 1-0 lead. Lukic made some changes and the team came out stronger in the second half: "I think we made a tactical adjustment in the midfield that really helped organize our press a little bit better, which helped us win balls back after we lost them," Lukic explained. "So I'd say that was a key moment and then the other players that came into the second half did a really good job of giving us a spark."
And what a spark that was. Minnesota scored a total of six unanswered goals in a span of 24 minutes. They were all far too good not to highlight (You can watch them all HERE) but due to limited space, here are our highlights of the highlights:
Cat Rapp and Sophie French each bagged a brace
https://twitter.com/MNAuroraFC/status/1675270794295795719
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Maya Hansen added her twelfth goal of the season (a new team record) in stunning fashion.
https://twitter.com/MNAuroraFC/status/1675271359071436801
Hannah Adler scored on the second touch of her shift.
https://twitter.com/MNAuroraFC/status/1675272573062459394
"I think we were a little frantic kind of [in the first half]," explained Cat Rapp, Saturday's Star Tribune Star of the Match. "I think in the first half the heat and other stuff was just making us more tired. But we'll make adjustments to play our game better, which is why we're here."
Lukic credited passion and chemistry for such consistent results, as well as their coachability . She was also quick to credit the fans, tying them into many of her comments when asked about certain moments of the match.
"Credit to the players who really just show up day in and day out, put in the work. They love this game more than most I know, and they come to train and just show up every single day so that when we get the opportunity to play in front of out amazing fan base, we're able to put seven goals in the net. And obviously people love seeing goals being scored."
Aurora moves on to the postseason, joined by Chicago City in Flint, Mich., for conference playoffs next week. The players (and staff) will get a couple days of much need rest but then they return to training and, Lukic says, the focus is the same: "As long as we continue doing the little things that we need to be doing right, it shouldn't matter where we play."
With any luck, Kettering University's Atwood Stadium will have the streaming capabilities to host 7,000-plus Aurora fans watching from Minnesota.
Aurora Thrive On Adversity, Add 5-1 Win Over Bavarian United
As a club more accustomed to creating adversity than facing it, the pitch was switched on MN Aurora this week but they emerged stronger, outscoring two Wisconsin opponents ten to one, despite a late venue change midweek and an early conceded goal that silenced TCO Stadium on Saturday night.
Poor air quality in the MSP area and throughout the state due to Canadian wildfires moved Wednesday night's home match against Green Bay Glory to an indoor venue, with no fans and no media. However, MN Aurora FC partners Eagan TV and Fox9 rallied to make the streaming show go on. Aurora won 5-0 with two goals from Cat Rapp and one each from Hannah Adler, Kylie Olsen, and Sophie French.
"I think overall, I mean the staff was probably the most stressed out because, myself included, we were the ones managing a lot of the changes and we tried to keep that off the players on Wednesday and I think we did a good job of that so they were able to just adjust to the location," head coach Nicole Lukic said on Saturday. "I think we gave them enought heads up, at four o'clock like - hey, something might happen, it might be different - like getting in that mindset and I thought that worked really well."
While Aurora proved they can do it under the dome of Stillwater's St. Croix Valley Rec Center on a pitch lined with youth soccer goals and lacrosse creases, the squad was eager to return to their true home on Saturday, celebrating Pride at a sold-out TCO Stadium. Aurora repeatedly tested the spectator limits of the Minnesota Vikings practice facility in 2022 and their sophomore year has been no different, despite all the Wednesday evening matchups. Saturday's match drew a season high 6,423 fans. Alas, the adversity continued under a nearly smoke-free sky.
Rather than scoring an early goal to get the crowd going, Aurora conceded one to Bavarian United SC. The Milwaukee-based expansion side sits in third in the Heartland Division, behind Aurora and Chicago City. Everyone watching this match quickly saw why. A high press, a quick defense, and an unshakable midfield, rattled Aurora early, forcing the hosts to defend against tactics much like their own for the first time this season.
Bavarian took control of possession early, testing Aurora's back line and looking for space. In only the 2nd minute they capitalized on a poorly-timed clearance by Abby Ostrem in Aurora's 18, catching centerback Tianna Harris and goalkeeper Amanda Poorbaugh on the back foot. Haley Johnson came through with a cool, calm finish to put Bavarian United up 1-0 and silencing a crowd more accustomed to seeing early goals from the home team.
"Obviously not the best way to start a game, two minutes in to give up a goal and let them kind of run through you," Lukic said. "And then I thought we abandoned our game plan a little bit there for 25 minutes. That rattled us a little bit more than we would have liked."
"They tested us, honestly, the first ten minutes. We had to settle ourselves in I think. I never doubted our team one bit," said centerback Tianna Harris. "We just knew to pick our heads up [after the goal] and let's freaking go."
Harris had a lot of one-v-one defensive opportunities against Haley Johnson, both strong and persistent players. Johnson got through with one but Harris was the one to hold her off through the rest of the match. "I love a challenge," she said. "I think just being a bigger body, I was trying to get something on her and just tried my best to be physical with her because she's a physical girl as well. "
The visitors continued to disrupt Aurora's midfield and managed to raise some tension. Morgan Stone made a few uncharacteristically stiff challenges, getting away with one, but earning a yellow card for another in the 24'. Hannah Adler had a great chance in the 26' but Bavarian goalkeeper Chloe Olson was up for the challenge. In the 29', Cat Rapp finally found the net following a flurry of blocked shots in a crowded box.
https://twitter.com/MNAuroraFC/status/1670229799996993540
The equalizer woke the crowd and Aurora's offense. Maya Hansen, credited with the assist to Rapp, found the go-ahead goal in the 33'. She made collecting and settling a long ball from leftback Abby Ostrem look easy, and added a clinical finish.
Hannah Adler added the insurance goal before the halftime whistle, following up her own scuffed first touch on a pass from Mariah Nguyen to tap it past Olson. The 3-1 lead was a result of a formation change after the poor start. Lukic reverted to the four-player back line after starting the night with three: "It gave us more confidence," Lukic explained. "We felt this made us feel a little bit more protected whether we needed that or not. Whether it was false confidence or real confidence, I'm not sure but it definitely worked." The switch led to three unanswered goals in 20 minutes.
"It gave us another number in the wide spaces which is where we kept finding the ball without a lot of support and ability to move forward. So overall I think it really helped us, just to settle down and get back into our settings."
Both teams came out fighting in the second half, Bavarian continuing to press while Aurora probed for shots. However, just a couple minutes in, everyone had another chance to regroup. A collision in Aurora's half in the 47' between Addison Weichers and Bavarians' Hannah Kroupa resulted in a five minute stoppage of play. Kroupa took the worst of the aerial head-to-head impact, suffering a laceration on her forehead that took a few minutes to control. Weichers was checked out and returned to the pitch as the stadium crew and athletic trainers managed the blood spilled on the turf and on Kroupa, who did not return to the game.
Aurora scored two more in the second half but Bavarian continued to make them work for it. Nguyen's goal in the 62', assisted by a long range cross in from Eli Rapp, may have secured the game as momentum, both on the pitch an finally shifted fully in Aurora's favor.
Aurora continued to display their depth and versatility putting a fifth goal from a fifth goalscorer in the 76' Harris got her head on a corner served in by Weichers and notched her fourth such goal of the season. Harris earned Star of the Game honors for the finish but credited the service for the opportunity.
"I love defending but attacking, that's my thing. I love it. So when I get the chance in the box and honestly, great service is provided -- me and Addy [Weichers] have kind of developed a little bit of a bond and she basically just puts it right on my head. I don't have to do too much. She's amazing."
It all came together on Saturday night, just as it all came together on Wednesday, and Aurora FC is embracing the circumstances thrown at them this season. Harris explained: "All those types of adversity are prepping us for playoffs. So we kind of look at it like, listen, this is what they gave us. We're gonna take it, make the best out of it. And I think we're just getting ready for playoffs and all of this is just part of the plot, I'm telling you."
Aurora's next chapter will be on the road. They will travel to Racine on Wednesday for a second meeting with RKC Third Coast and then to Milwaukee on Saturday for a rematch with Bavarian United. Saturday's win puts more distance between first place Aurora (24 points) and second place Chicago City (16 points), but Bavarian is still in a close third (13 points).
MN Aurora Emphasizes Effort Over Goals - Even For Their Opponents
Minnesota Aurora FC closed out the month of May with three wins from three games, having outscored their opponents 19-0. Ten of those goals came from a home match against expansion side RKC Third Coast on May 31 so they rolled into an away fixture at Rochester FC on June 4 with confidence in their depth and creativity. In Aurora's home opener against Rochester FC, the squad put up five unanswered goals on an injury-depleted squad. As hosts, Rochester bettered that performance in the second leg and proved that despite the lopsided resources seen across USL-W conferences, even the bottom ranked teams can play level with the leaders.
Sunday, June 4 at RCTC Stadium: Rochester FC 0 - 1 MN Aurora FC
The Sunday matinee at RCTC Stadium felt more like a home game for Aurora with at least half of the crowd sporting teal, as captured by our friends at Equal Time Soccer, but both squads heard cheers for some stellar efforts through the match. Both starting goalkeepers, Aurora's Olivia Graupman and Rochester's Emma Knack, played lights out. While RFC went into the match outscored 8-0 on the season, Knack held off Aurora's chances from open play and tested Aurora's shot selection. The Isanti native and NDSU-commit allowed only one goal in this game, a header by Tianna Harris from one of Aurora's many corner kicks.
Graupman, starting over Taylor Kane as a precaution at this stage of the season, has not faced too many shots but was tested by Rochester. Lissa Mizutani, who was named Defensive Rookie of the Year in her freshman year at University of St Thomas, nearly snagged the equalizing [and Rochester's first] goal in the 89th minute, but the crossbar and perhaps Graupman's fingertips, kept her off the board.
One might think that continuing to concede goals while not scoring any of their own would be detrimental to a squad's confidence. However, Mizutani and teammate Jayda Brown relish the opportunity. When asked about their goals as players on an expansion team, amidst the gaps in the standings and playing experience between teams, Mizutani told NLF, "It's good learning and you're not always gonna win, but you're getting better every game and we're all on the same page."
The goal [*ahem*] of the W League is to develop players and give them a pathway to higher levels of play. For Brown, match results are not the most important part of that development: "Well, I guess for everyone on our team it's just like, getting better. That's one of our main goals from here. Hopefully, if we get the opportunity to go pro then that's something that we're looking forward to but our goal right now is to focus on getting better first before we can move forward." It is also an opportunity to learn from each other, maturing as players in a new environment with new people. "I mean, I think like being such a new team, we are working really on team bonding and chemistry and just being able to connect passes and work on the simple stuff and get to know each other better," Mizutani explained. For Brown, the proof was in the 1-0 loss:
Yeah, that's one of the hard things about being a new team. Like we don't know each other. So we're just trying to build that chemistry as you can see. Like, today I felt like we did an awesome job. Coming after this we're going to do so good - like I can see great things happening. I'm not sure about anybody else but I think we're getting there and we're working extremely hard to become better. So playing against a team like that [Aurora] is like teaching us, you know, how to make better passes and you know, just transitioning and how to make better moves. So yeah, we're extremely proud of our team and what we did today, for sure.
For Aurora head coach Nicole Lukic, the lesson was in a rotated lineup getting the job done against an improved team: "We learned a lot today from trying different players in new positions. It was a good reminder for us that we are going to get our opponents' best game the second time we play them."
Speaking of second times...
(View our full MN Aurora v. Chicago Dutch Lions photo gallery here)
Wednesday, June 7: MN Aurora FC 6 - 1 Chicago Dutch Lions
Aurora returned home on Wednesday night to host the Chicago Dutch Lions after beating them 4-0 on the road (at Aurora University, in Aurora, Ill.). The Dutch Lions did indeed bring their best game, scoring in the 73rd minute to end Aurora's clean sheet streak. Unfortunately for the Lions, Katelyn Nardulli's tally was merely a consolation goal, as Aurora had already put up five of their own and would add one more before the final whistle to win 6-1.
Three of Aurora's six goals came in the first half -- all credited to Hannah Adler, who capped off a hat trick in the 44th minute with a beautiful assist from Cat Rapp. After two penalty kick goals, the open play goal was all the more sweet. "Hannah created a lot for us," Lukic said. "She is good at moving into spaces. It was a different game, there was less space behind today. But she still was able to find different moments to link up with players."
https://twitter.com/MNAuroraFC/status/1666610872767184896
Adler is one of the second-year additions still gaining familiarity with the squad but the Star Tribune Star of the Game said, "It's been a really easy adjustment to come into this team. They've made it really easy for me and yeah, I think just as we continue to grow, our confidence as a group will continue to grow."
According to Lukic, they still have a lot of growing to do. To say she was not thrilled with the team's performance on Wednesday may be an understatement.
"I think we just lacked energy and passion overall at moments and were complacent with the 6-1, at one time 5-0, win. So yeah, I would like to see us stay mentally sharp for 90 minutes and that's something that we've already talked about since the game ended and feel the group agreeing which is a good thing but something we have to be better at going forward."
She went on to describe it as "a mindset problem" -- "It's just one of those things that you can't really put your thumb on but you know something was off" and that is a problem that will need to be fixed as the team moves on to the second half of the season to face teams they haven't yet seen.
"We still have the best opponents in the division left, according to the table right now. Second, third, and fourth place teams, Green Bay and Milwaukee Bavarians, who we haven't seen at all. We'll see City on Sunday so, right away, we should have a good challenge right in front of us, but we're definitely gonna have to play a lot better than we did today to make the payoffs."
While Mariah Nguyen's late goal made SportsCenter's Top Ten at No. 6, it was perhaps a poor decision. Lukic cited over-dribbling multiple times in her critique of the 90-minute performance. Aurora will need to be more purposeful with the ball in upcoming games to continue to earn the accolades they have in the first five weeks of the season. We may see some more shots from distance and quick decisions, like Morgan Stone's goal against RKC last weekend, which was named the league's Goal of the Week. And last Sunday's Star of the Game, Tianna Harris, who was also named Captain of the Team of the Month, will need to pull out all the centerback stops moving forward.
Second-Best Is Up Next (Sunday, June 11: Chicago City SC v. MN Aurora FC)
Chicago City SC is in second place, two points behind Aurora following a draw with Bavarians (the only tie in the Heartland Division thus far). City has only conceded four goals in five games while scoring 14, half of which came against RKC Third Coast just days before Aurora shutout that side 10-0. Sunday's matchup will likely be Aurora's toughest test on the season and it will be a true away environment given the distance from the Twin Cities. Goals are nice, but three points on the road would be a great boost ahead of a two-match home stand this coming week and would put a little distance between Aurora and City as we move into the latter half of the season.
Sunday's action will be streamed live on Eleven Sports.
**Author's notes: This article was first published with Brown's quotes attributed to her teammate Jennifer Reyna -- I had copy/pasted my quote sheet to the roster and did not catch the error until after publishing. We have also corrected an error naming Poorbaugh as the MNA keeper on Sunday - Olivia Graupman played the full match. My sincere apologies for the errors.
MN Aurora Showcases Depth, Creativity in 10 Goal Rout of RKC
Minnesota Aurora FC improved to 3-0 on Wednesday night, scoring ten unanswered goals against RKC Third Coast, the expansion side from Racine-Kenosha (WI). Aurora is the second W League team to score double-digits in 2023 (but the first to not concede) and the fourth to do so since the league began in 2022.
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Aurora returned home to TCO Stadium in Eagan on Wednesday night, carrying three points from the weekend's match against the Chicago Dutch Lions. Head coach Nicole Lukic made some significant changes to the lineup, sending out all three Rapp triplets and giving Ari DelMoral her first start of the season, but the attack and backline remained unchanged. This tested scoring squad faced a thin RKC lineup - due to transportation constraints they traveled with only two substitutes due, including a goalkeeper, on one of the hottest and most humid nights so far of this Minnesota summer.
Cat Rapp and Maya Hansen kept their attacking connections alive in this match, opening the scoring when Rapp found an unmarked Hansen in front of goal in the 3'. The squad celebrated by sitting on the endline to "row the boat." Rapp added her own in the 9', putting Racine's back line on notice with a 2-0 deficit inside of 10 minutes. As Aurora players put on a more subdued celebration, RKC's goalkeeper and defenders huddled, soon joined by most of their midfielders. From Aurora's first offensive press (which started from the whistle), RKC was flooding their box with defenders with the intention of bunkering against Aurora's possession and presumably to start their own attacks on the counter. However, a bunker only works if those involved are marking the opponent well, and in this instance, RKC was not successful on that front; rather every defender was repeatedly caught ball watching, perhaps expecting a teammate to step up to the ball. They came out of the huddle with a more concerted plan, beginning to go two-v-one with whoever was in possession in their attacking third. That didn't work either.
Goals Goals Goals
Captain and rightback Makenzie Langdok is not to be deterred by a double-teaming defense. Langdok led much of the offensive efforts on the wing and in the 19' she juked her two defenders and beat a couple more before finding Hansen fully unmarked in the box. 3-0 Aurora. And it continued. Cat Rapp found Hansen again in the 31' for the team's fourth goal and Hansen's third. With a hat trick and two-thirds of a game left to play, Aurora did not let up. The team celebrations, however, stopped after the third goal, reduced to high fives and hugs as they jogged to the center circle for the restart.
Ari DelMoral got her first goal with a banger from 18 yards out into the upper right corner. RKC keeper Greta Harms made a leaping effort to stop it but simply could not get there. 5-0. Morgan Stone, the squad's leading scorer in 2022, nabbed her first goal of the season with a clean finish in the 44'. Officials added two minutes to the half, simply to make up for the three-minute water break, but it felt a bit ridiculous given the scoreline. The two minutes were relatively quiet - Aurora went into the locker room up 6-0.
Both teams made wholesale changes after halftime. Lukic sent in Taylor Kane for Amanda Poorbaugh, giving Kane her first minutes of the 2023 season after keeping her out of the first two games as a precaution following a minor thumb injury suffered in preseason. Also subbing in were: Vienna Behnke for Rami Rapp, Hannah Adler for Cat Rapp, Kylie Olsen for Langdok, Lydia Ruppert for Nguyen, Sophie French for DelMoral, and Kaitlyn MacBean for Hansen. RKC also used all two of their subs, most notably replacing Harms in goal with Mia Guyton.
Guyton immediately faced Aurora's attacking gauntlet: French scored in the 49' (her first of the campaign), Tianna Harris in the 54' (her first for the club), and Adler in the 56'. MacBean, credited with the assist on Adler's goal, scored one of her own in the 63'. And to mix things up, Stone added a yellow card in the 51'. "It's nice to see a variety in goals and goal scorers," Lukic said. "It helps us as we continue through the season to make players feel good, that they can be the person to score on any given night."
On her first half hat trick, Hansen said, "I think my mentality was, if it comes, it comes, but obviously I was striving for that. That's a cool achievement and obviously wouldn't be possible without my teammates. I mean, they really put them just, like, on a platter for me. They made my job super, super easy, but yeah, that's a cool accomplishment to have for sure."
The win, and the ten goals scored in an hour of play, secured first place in the Heartland Division, a tie on points with Chicago City SC broken by Aurora's goal differential - 19GF/0GA well ahead of CCSC's impressive 10GF/1GA. RKC, already at the bottom of the table despite having played one more match than Aurora, saw their goal differential plummet further, with 1GF/23GA giving them a -22 GD.
Hansen cited squad quality, both on and off the pitch, as a key factor in Aurora's success just three matches into the season. "The new players have been extremely easy to integrate into our team from last year. You can really tell that Nicole [Lukic] and the coaching staff paid attention to who these people are as people, not just as players. So who they are off the field makes it really easy to play with them on the field and that chemistry kind of just flows super naturally." She also said that that chemistry has improved in-game communication (one of the factors Lukic said played into some sloppy play in the opening match): "I think we have good success as the year has continued to progress, just learning how each other plays so that communication kind of becomes a little less needed."
USL-W Context
While Aurora's supporters, MN Revontulet, chanted "We want 11!", some comments on twitter suggested that the home side should have let up, shifting their focus to possession rather than scoring. But what is the appropriate way to respond in a match that so clearly displays the gap in resources between two teams elevated to the same league and division? RKC has potential but did not have the same resources to build out when promoted from club soccer to USL-W as Minnesota Aurora had from their start in 2022. With an already thin squad, and without the resources to travel with more than a couple subs, RKC faces an uphill battle as they integrate into the W League. While a ten goal rout seems excessive, the club did not join the league to play soft - Aurora letting up would have been disrespectful in that sense.
But Aurora is also a regional anomaly. While the club routinely led the division in scoring in 2022, Wednesday night's performance produced double the goals of their highest-scoring match last season, a 5-1 win over Green Bay. While preseason began with talk about how Aurora might fare in a much-expanded league, the club's stats just three matches in rival those of a club Lukic cited as an illustration of the league's growth and improved quality. San Francisco Glens FC leads the Nor Cal Division with six wins from six matches played (Nor Cal began the season a couple weeks earlier than Heartland for obvious reasons) and a goal differential of 24 (27GF/3GA). In last place, eighth, is Academica SC with five losses in five games and 2GF/24GA, matching RKC's -22 goal differential. The gap in resources and the talent pool in the Nor Cal Division is similar to those in the Heartland.
It's Still Early
MN Aurora will travel to Rochester on Sunday, June 4, to face the Loons again. Rochester FC has not earned any points from their first three matches and five of their eight goals conceded thus far were scored by Aurora in the season opener. They sit one place above RKC but, unlike RKC, have yet to score a goal of their own. They also had a thin squad when they traveled to TCO Stadium, sitting a handful of players who suffered injuries in preseason, but have put up a fight in every match. Aurora's bench and adaptability will keep them on the front foot as division play continues, but there is still time for clubs like RFC to catch up.
Sunday's action kicks off at 3 P.M. EST from Rochester Community and Technical College. MN Aurora will then return home to host the Chicago Dutch Lions on Wednesday and before traveling to play Chicago City SC on Sunday.