USL League 2 waves goodbye to the Deep North
In the 30-year-old USL League 2, the Heartland Division of the Central Conference is our focus - with that conference the initial focus of any playoff run. Its former neighbor to the East has subsumed the Deep North division. Into the Heartland's Chicagoland base come a trio of Minnesotan clubs and one from Wisconsin. Out go the defending Deep North champions, Thunder Bay Chill, who have gone on hiatus, and Bavarian United, which focuses on UPSL and the Midwest Premier League. Out of the Heartland are St. Charles FC (who are not listed) and national runner-up Peoria City (who move to the Great Plains division).
None of the four playoff qualifiers from the Heartland or Deep North in 2024 are in the Heartland this season. The Central has five divisions.
From the Heartland
Chicago City Dutch Lions are a joint-venture of the operators of two previously separate USL clubs, Chicago City SC and Chicago Dutch Lions (who were one of 11 Dutch Lions teams fielded by the franchise across the USA). CCSC are an established youth operation in the area. Dutch Lions lost all 12 of their games last season, City managed two wins and 2 draws but only managed 6th place.
Joliet-based Sueño FC are a newcomer from last season, when they finished 5th of 7 in the Deep North.
River Light FC were 3 points outside a playoff spot from their base in Aurora, Illinois, with a 7-3-2 record.
From the Deep North
The storied crows of Minneapolis City SC finished 5th of 6 teams in the Deep North last season with 5 wins and 7 losses from a topsy-turvy season.
Their neighbors to the East, St. Croix Legends finished fourth, with a 5-2-5 record.
RKC Third Coast in Racine, WI finished two points short of the second playoff spot last season, with a 6-1-5 record.
Rochester FC finished bottom of the division, with a 2-1-9 record.
Prospects
With the playoff field yet to be established it is difficult to make predictions. However, the absence of all four of last year's playoff representatives would suggest a path for a different club (and maybe some from the Northland) to playoffs. Stay tuned.
A new North is unveiled by NPSL
There are no brand-new clubs to the North Conference of the NPSL, but it is getting longer and shorter at the same time with Dakota Fusion's hiatus and the entry of former Gateway Conference members Iowa Demon Hawks.
Of the four playoff qualifiers from the North in 2024, two (Dakota Fusion and Minnesota TwinStars) are not part of 2025's festivities. The TwinStars leave after 20 years at this level and a 30-year history overall that made them by far the oldest club in this division.
Duluth FC will be defending their region with a new head coach for the first time since 2020, with the departure of Sean Morgan. Their fellow playoff team, Joy Athletic Club, is joined by Lakeville's Minnesota Blizzard (who also play in MASL2 alongside the Demon Hawks) as the only presence in the Twin Cities metro.
The Demon Hawks arrive in the North, having lost in the Regional Semifinals to Duluth FC (as Des Moines United). The Demon Hawks are also an established MASL2 indoor team. There is a possible fresh rivalry between the Des Moines-based Demon Hawks and the Sioux City-based Siouxland United. On the subject of the latter, the Outlaws bring in Alex Trent as head coach off the back of his undefeated regular season with Fusion. Lastly, Sioux Falls Thunder remain in the conference and at Bob Young Field as another potential rival to the Iowans.
Also, a little note about the US Open Cup. The tournament saw Duluth FC seize a priority bid as regional winners and it turns out that Fusion were offered a spot (turned down because of hiatus) as spectacular regular season participants. The BlueGreens are on the road against Forward Madison of USL League One for the second consecutive year, largely as a consequence of two things: Relatively close proximity and a desire to match all amateurs against a pro side in the 1st round. We will be covering that for you.
The North no longer, WPSL does the hokey-pokey
The clubs and structure for the 2025 WPSL season have been announced.
With the departure of Sioux Falls City and Dakota Fusion (at least for now), the WPSL has taken the opportunity to reorganize (what was) the Northern Conference.
The Northern Conference has steadily grown while remaining an outlier until the point where last season, 10 teams competed for 1 playoff spot. Instead, 2025 will see the debut of the North Lakes Conference. To make the new conference, the Lake Michigan division shifts over from the Midwest Conference, and the remaining teams from the Northern Conference make up the Land of Lakes division.
Come playoff time, the winners of the two divisions will play a Conference Championship for a single spot in the Central Playoffs.
The returning teams in the Land of Lakes division
Salvo SC, who play at University of Northwestern in Roseville, MN, finished second in the North last season and are perennial challengers for a playoff berth.
Prior to Sioux Falls City's emergence, Richfield-based Minnesota Thunder provided a duopoly with Salvo but have consistently declined a playoff spot as a matter of club policy.
Joy Athletic Club are the NPSL arm of the St. Paul-based "free play" non-profit, who have thus far not challenged for a playoff spot.
White Bear Lake's Manitou FC finished the season with one win.
MapleBrook Fury are now MN Bliss , as part of a partnership with the UPSL's Tonka Fusion Elite. Formerly challengers, they endured a 2-2-5 season.
The eastern border of the Twin Cities metro (and the Wisconsin border) brings Stillwater, MN based St Croix Legacy.
Outside of the Metro, there remains Mankato United (who were challengers in the era of Jenny Vetter, but no longer) and Minnesota Dutch Lions (who were previously Rochester United FC)
Small Market, Grand Designs - Sioux Falls City looking to expand
Sioux Falls City's jump to USL-W is an expansion in every sense, as an energized Sporting Director Joe De May told us this evening.
I think when the ownership group started out they had grand designs at that time... Things have evolved and the women's sports landscape has really kind of taken off exponentially.
While WPSL PRO was "right in front of" the club and WPSL "has been a great platform for us, there's a lot of things from the USLW perspective that align a little bit better with what we try to do on our end." That included the ears of sponsors pricking up more at the prospect of D1 as opposed to D3.
The club sees viable expansion models from the men's side, most clearly with Minneapolis City. The top of their organizational pyramid would be a USL Super League professional team, with a professional reserve side in the WPSL PRO and a pre-professional team at the USL-W level.
The WPSL has a clause in its membership manual allowing for a two year "pause", which City are going to take advantage of, before re-opening that branch to "provide that level for those players who, are primarily focused more on their college development, and that's probably going to be the end of their competitive soccer careers."
The more teams, the more opportunities women have to play, but more clubs at more levels offers people a better chance of finding their level instead of warming the bench at a higher level.
How can you provide those players with those opportunities to play at a high level? But still be in a pro environment as well. So we think there's a place for both leagues.
Sioux Falls City is riding a wave but, like a well-coached team on the pitch, its shape remains.
I think it can be adaptable, flexible, but as long as you're keeping your core values and your main priorities at the core, then you're okay. You know, it's when you start bending your core values (that problems occur).
It is both a compressed and a fluid timeline, with a hopeful professional presence from South Dakota by 2027. With the Professional League Standards as they currently are written, division 1 women's leagues need 75% of their teams in TV markets of 750,000 - which Sioux Falls is not. Super League's got eight teams, but they have two teams that are underneath that 750,000 so they're right at the 75%.
We're cheering for more big cities to join because even if we were already in 2025 to do that, unless they had another big city join the league to offset another small market club like us coming on board, we couldn't do it.
De May is firm in his resolve that the club expands according to its needs rather than because of a league, with every league a possible destination for their sides. He is however, also insistent that they have an ongoing and healthy relationship with WPSL.
We just think that both leagues have something to offer and we're trying to navigate that the way through that to make it happen and At this point, we felt we needed to make the jump to USLW to do that with clearly stating to WPSL, hey, our intention is not to leave you.
In fact, De May foresees some professional reserve teams in the WPSL PRO.
I think that's a very sustainable path for the league. We envision ourselves taking part in that.
We will be watching. Stay tuned to our coverage.
Sioux Falls shows up strong in WPSL Post Season awards
Sioux Falls City FC had an unbeaten regular season and won a third successive Franchise of the Year award in the Northern Conference. Goalkeeper Cambell Fischer and forward Mia Mullenmeister won defensive and offensive players of the year in the conference. Fischer comes from the Sioux Falls metro and plays at the University of South Dakota. Mullenmeister, from the home of the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD is playing further afield at Utah State.
They were joined by team mates Jordan Tenpas (From Orange County, California and now playing at Washburn University, having transferred from Minot State) and Katharina Oelschlager (From Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany and playing at Florida Gulf Coast) as All Region selections.
That XI also sees a hat trick of three-time selections from the University of Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro, in Paige Kalal (MN Thunder), Molly Fiedler and Khyah Harper (Salvo). Notre Dame players Olivia Bohl and Izzy Engle (Both also from the Twin Cities metro and Thunder), Jordyn Jeffers and Avery Murdzek (Both Wisconsinites for St Croix Legacy) round out the selection. Jeffers plays for Ball State and Murdzek plays for South Dakota State.
Duong and Parten the MVPs in the Post Season awards
The USL W League and UPSL leagues have announced their postseason awards this week, led by Katie Duong, who was named Heartland Conference Player of the Year. It is the latest and last award in the glittering pre-professional stage of her career. Having been drafted in the fourth round by her hometown Portland Thorns in NWSL this year, she has been named to the inaugural roster of DC Power, the Washington club in the other Division 1 league, USL Super League. This last regular season, Duong scored 9 times in 10 starts.
In the UPSL, Berit Parten of NOSC Blast was named Midwest West Conference Most Valuable Player ahead of her freshman season at the University of Iowa, with a Golden Boot worthy 20 goals. She leads the line for the First Team selections with Aurora 2's Ava Westlund (also formerly of NOSC). The midfield is composed of players from four different clubs in Anna Tobias from Superior City, Ayah Makled from Aurora, Mehjan Przybilla from NOSC and Minnesota TwinStars' Ryane Cash. The defensive selections are GK Lauren McAlpine, Ruthie Gyasi and Julia Freed from NOSC, Aurora's Kiera Laney and Gwendolyn Lilly from Superior City. The Coach of the Year is NOSC's Josh Okoampa.
The second team sees St Croix Legacy's Alena Miller in goal, backed by a diverse defense: Sydney Kubes of Northern Tide, Lili Wade of Granite City, Bailey Dodds of Aurora and Caroline Lauinger of NOSC. The midfield selections are Luka Johnson of Aurora, Lili Linquist of Tide, Emilia McGiffert of Superior City and Nora Helvig of NOSC. The line is lead by Agatha Nimene of TwinStars and Mandy Elton of Aurora.
Stay tuned to this site for coverage of the inaugural USL Super League season and other women's professional football.
Photo Gallery: Mpls City SC v St Croix Legends, MN Super Cup Final
Minneapolis City SC and St Croix Legends faced off at Macalester Stadium on Thursday, July 25, in the final of the second annual Minnesota Super Cup. The Legends won 3-0, with goals from Asher Ozuzu (12th minute), Stu Sain (43rd minute), and Nathan Donovan (46th minute).
You can read our full match recap here. All photos by Jason Morales Ortiz.
NPSL National Semifinals: El Farolito 3-0 Duluth FC
Duluth FC finished the regular season as the 33rd ranked team by points-per-game, the metric used to determine hosting priority for the playoffs. It is eerily similar to the last time they made this stage. Their odyssey has so far taken them on a 500 mile round trip to Fargo and back for the Conference Championship, a 830 mile round trip to Des Moines for the Regional Semifinal and now a 4000 mile round trip to San Francisco for the National Semifinal against #5 El Farolito . The hosts made their debut at this stage of the tournament, having fallen in the regional championship each of the past two seasons.
After strong Farolito possession to open the match, the best chance for either side came on a Duluth counter in the fourth minute, but the ball across the box bobbled into the hands of the keeper Johan Lizarralde. An El Farolito corner in the 7th minute was followed quickly by Jonatan Valdivia blasting one in, on the run into the penalty area. The hosts continued to dominate possession but Duluth FC threatened from a left wing free kick, which became a corner. The ball swung just over, cleared by a defender. Corner #2 goes out for a third but they could not bump the ball over the line.
As the half wore on, the BlueGreens began to funnel the ball into Liam Pritchard’s right channel.
Gabriel Arias made it 2-0 in the 31st minute, finishing from outside the box from a Kipre Sacre pass.
The visitors had a late flurry of chances in the first half. First, Jireh Oyebamji with a chance for Duluth, snuffed out by the keeper in the 41st minute. Two minutes later, Jesus Martinez made a strong slide challenge on a streaking Liam Pritchard in the box. No call. Finally, in stoppage time, Pritchard was denied by Lizarralde at point blank range, sliding out to meet him in the box.
The second half was almost entirely a tale of El Farolito squandering good chances. Eric Arias missed an open goal, and there was a corner headed well over before Duluth FC were required to defend - and Jamie Colvill made a flying save of Edgard Kreye’s point-blank header. Kreye and Arias were joined by Valdivia in placing a chance wide but the closest that Duluth came before the hour mark was a Duluth throw-in, which forced a save. Liam Pritchard, so dangerous against Steel City last weekend, drove a chance too high in the 62nd minute. It marked a short spell of BlueGreen ball control, with two corners in four minutes - the second of which was driven right under the crossbar, forcing Lizarralde to punch it out. Shortly after, attacking substitute Tyler Limmer squared the ball but it was stopped by the keeper. The pattern of El Farolito misses continued as substitute Carlos Rodriguez did so twice in two minutes, first with a diving header from a Valdivia cross and then with his foot.
Somehow, the chances kept coming (and going) for El Farolito, with Jhohann Yabur and Valdivia both stopped by the BlueGreen defense. It took until virtually the last kick of the game for the hosts to score their first of the second half, Rodriguez finally finishing a chance.
Midnight struck like the hammer of a grandfather clock on the dreams of Lake Superior's Cinderella as the 5330 mile odyssey of the BlueGreens came to an end. That also marks the end of another eventful season of NPSL coverage for you on Northern Lights Football, as El Farolito conclude their season with a mammoth 2888 mile trip out to Madison, New Jersey.
Stay tuned for our coverage of women’s professional football on this very site and if you have not already done so please check out our Patreon for ways to support our ongoing mission as a non-profit.
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."
https://twitter.com/MplsCityFan/status/1816653082626764914
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.
Photo Gallery: Aurora 2 vs NOSC Blast (UPSL Women Conference Championship)
Leagues
After a 1-1 tie at full-time, NOSC Blast eventually defeated Aurora 2 in the UPSL Women Conference Championship 2-1 in overtime on Sunday, July 14, 2024 at TCO Stadium. Here are our pictures from the pitch.
[Editor’s Note: Apologies for the delay in getting this gallery posted – a computer failure delayed our photo processing for most of the week.]
NPSL Midwest Playoff Final
Steel City FC 2-3 Duluth FC (After Extra Time)
Steel City reached this stage last year, before falling to eventual champion Tulsa Athletic on penalty kicks. Duluth can reach a bit further back and recall their own Midwest Region Championship in 2018. They came perilously close to the mandatory 10pm lights out (per the broadcast crew) but in the mean time, the two teams produced a gutsy match.
The match began with Duluth FC dominance, culminating in a neat, close control and finish by Liam Pritchard in the 7th minute. Steel City responded with their own period of pressure, both metaphorically with a high press and literally with a tough challenge on Jamie Colvill. In the 16th minute, the hosts rang the crossbar from a corner and corners (and chances) kept coming in from Steel City. Colvill, up to the task, flew at full stretch in the 21st minute to deny Mikey Sullivan. Liam Pritchard found himself in a pocket of space in the 29th minute, only to be foiled by a last gasp tackle. Two minutes later, Sullivan was back on the ball for the hosts from a midfield free kick, he dribbled all the way to the penalty spot and laced an equalizer into the top corner.
The BlueGreens had another period of possession as the first half ended, but could not break through.
With 48 on the clock, Eduoard Nys shot, only to see it cleared off the Steel City line. Back and forth the possession went but chances went over the gridiron posts or wide. Dylan Sumner drove into the box for Duluth but was whistled for a foul against the defender. A ball in from Nicky Graeca is met with no home team runners. Duluth call for a handball in the 71st minute off a scrambled corner, but the referee didn’t give it. Back up the other end, Steel City had a free kick on the right wing, whipped in but the bicycle kick was ruled offside.
From the 77th minute onward, Duluth pinned Steel City back, they had a missed chance in the 81st minute, but only needed a minute to make up for it as Felipe Santos, who goes to college a couple of hours north of the Steel City at Mercyhurst University, drove into the box unchecked and hammered home what looked like the winning goal in the 82nd minute. Steel City had a corner, cleared, and then a long throw, cleared. However, down to the last gasp, with two minutes of stoppage time elapsed, a scramble in the Duluth box culminated in a goal. The scorer is still unknown at time of publication. Less than a minute later, the visitors were reduced to ten men by a flying two-footed challenge for a straight red card.
Duluth started Extra Time on top, Felipe Santos putting the ball just over, and then Felipe Carli connected with a deep run from Liam Pritchard to slot home in the 99th minute. The game finished with Steel City having their own shout for a penalty in the 113th minute, denied and five other chances just missed as time ran out on (yet another) #1 seed in the Midwest.
It’s difficult to even put into words the scale of achievement by this Duluth FC squad. So far in the playoffs, they have gone on the road to Dakota Fusion (and won) and on the road to Des Moines United/Iowa Demon Hawks (and won) and now on the road to Steel City (and won). In a league where road matches mean short benches, it is staggering. As the 33rd ranked team by points-per-game, their odyssey continues with a National Semifinal in San Francisco against #5 El Farolito.
Talking to us after the game, Head Coach Sean Morgan took a moment to acknowledge the scale of achievement:
It’s just an incredible achievement by a group of incredible young men like how they’ve battled through the season with adversity at different times winning games when we’re coming off the back of bad runs and, like you said the road games that we’ve had to deal with in the last two weeks have been enormous mentally and physically and to be able to put all that to the side and just give it everything I’m just so so proud of the guys can’t be more proud. It’s phenomenal.
NPSL Midwest Playoff Semifinal
Iowa Demon Hawks 0-2 Duluth FC
Duluth FC and Iowa Demon Hawks kicked off from Indianola High School, about 30 minutes south of Des Moines for the right to face the region's #1 seed, Steel City FC in Pittsburgh.
Duluth FC went 7-1-4 in the regular season and beat Dakota Fusion in the North Conference Final.
The Demon Hawks (aka Des Moines United) , went 6-2-2 in the regular season and advanced out of the Gateway Conference playoffs with a 2-0 win over Milwaukee Torrent in their conference championship match.
After an even opening 25 minutes, both teams would register shots on goal, but it would remain goal less going into half time. The BlueGreens would have a couple of shots across the six yard box not converted before Liam Pritchard broke the deadlock in the 65th minute, dribbling inside and out of his defender before finishing at the near post. Only four minutes later, Duluth FC rang a shot off the post and in the seventy-fifth minute, a Demon Hawk shot from distance was tipped onto the crossbar by Jamie Colvill. That would be the closest that the home side would come, and the door slammed firmly shut in the 80th minute as Rory Doyle acrobatically volleyed the ball in from the top of the box.
The visitors face another long road trip in their pursuit of more silverware, facing Steel City FC in Pittsburgh on Saturday to decide the NPSL Midwest Regional Champion. Steel City reached this stage last year, before falling to eventual champion Tulsa Athletic on penalty kicks. Duluth can reach a bit further back and recall their own Midwest Region Championship in 2018.
NPSL North Playoffs Final
Dakota Fusion hosted the BlueGreens of Duluth FC last Saturday night in Moorhead, MN for the inaugural NPSL North Conference playoff title, with a spot in the Central Regional playoffs on the line. Fusion who won the regular season title at 9-3-0 (W-D-L) defeated Joy AC 2-1 to advance to the Conference title match. The BlueGreens meanwhile finished the season 7-1-4 in second place in the North. Duluth FC took down the Minnesota TwinStars 2-0 in their conference semi-final to advance to the North final.
Late in the first half it was Duluth's Edouard Nys putting a ball into the corner of goal for what would turn out to be the only goal the evening. A weather delay extended the halftime break in Moorhead, but when both sides came back out for the second 45' neither club could muster another goal.
Duluth FC's win sent them into the revamped NPSL Midwest Region playoff where they'll face plays Moines United (aka Iowa Demon Hawks) in the Midwest Region semi-final in Indianola, IA. Des Moines United, who went 6-2-2 in the regular season advanced out of the Gateway Conference playoffs with a 2-0 win over Milwaukee Torrent in their conference championship match.
The winner of tonight's match will face a lengthy trip to the Pittsburgh area this weekend for the Midwest Region final. Great Lakes Conference champion Steel City FC secured themselves the top seed in the region and a bye to and hosting rights for the final. Duluth FC and Des Moines United will kickoff tonight at 7pm from Indianola High School about 30 minutes south of Des Moines. The match will be viewable on the Iowa Demon Hawks YouTube channel.
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.
