USL-W: MN Aurora FC continue bright run of form
A dominant win over the St. Louis Lions on Sunday afternoon saw Minnesota Aurora FC close out their regular season home schedule on a fun note. Another sell-out crowd (5,944 fans) was treated to a 4–1 offensive marathon that once again proved the squad’s depth and versatility.
Click here to see more of Seth Steffenhagen’s photos from Minnesota’s 4–1 win over St. Louis.
Minnesota scored the first two goals on penalties, the first awarded by a St. Louis handball in the 9th minute and converted by Morgan Turner, the second stemming from a sliding tackle by St. Louis goalkeeper Madalyn Davis and converted by Morgan Stone in the 20th minute. After conceding a goal just minutes later to St. Louis’ Krystal Kohenskey, Minnesota’s Mariah Nguyen continued her run-of-play run of form.
Nguyen’s goal put Minnesota up 3–1 in the 36th minute and the score held until halftime. The second half was about quality over quantity.
A curling shot by Stone from the edge of the 18 put Minnesota up 4–1 in the 60th minute. The midfielder said, “As soon as it came off my foot, I knew it was going in.” She was also prepared to receive a yellow card for the celebration, but did not receive one:
Her goal did however get an appearance on SportsCenter’s Top 10:
Aurora goalkeeper Taylor Kane, making her first start of the season, faced 10 shots — five of which came from Kohenskey — and tallied six saves through 83 minutes (Olivia Graupmann subbed on to close out the match). Head coach Nicole Lukic used all of her subs to maximize the home field excitement, leaving only the squad’s spine (Preston, Stone, Ostrem, and Turner) to play all 90 minutes.
This move helped Aurora tally 19 total shots from 10 different players (Turner led with four). So far this season, 15 players have earned points by either scoring or assisting a goal, and 11 different players have scored goals.
Ahead of a three-match road trip that will determine postseason standings, Sunday’s result lifted Minnesota from third to second in the W League Power Rankings for Week 9. First in the Heartland Division with 25 points, Minnesota has the advantage of facing runner-up Green Bay Glory for two of those three matches (July 7 and 9).
A five point lead and ten goal advantage bode well for Minnesota, but Green Bay has plenty of attacking power. Four players combine for 10 of the the club’s 14 goals: Skylar Prentice (4 goals), Christine Kitaru (2 goals, 1 assist), Abigail Gemza (2 goals, 2 assists), Elizabeth Behnke (2 goals, 1 assist). While Laura Linares has only made one other appearance since scoring the equalizer against Minnesota on May 26, all four leading scorers factored in that night and all are likely to feature in at least one of those two matches at Green Bay. The squad will also have a say in Minnesota’s titles hopes with their own match in Chicago this weekend.
Minnesota will get another run at the fourth place Chicago Dutch Lions on Thursday, June 30, before the double feature in Green Bay. If they beat CDL Thursday and Green Bay loses or draws at Chicago City SC on Saturday, the Division title is Minnesota’s and the Green Bay matches would be for posterity only. A Minnesota loss or a draw at Dutch Lions would keep Green Bay in the race no matter their result on Saturday.
So while Minnesota Aurora doesn’t quite control its own fate, Thursday’s match will be another chance to improve and learn, just as the squad has done with every game this season. There won’t be a stream so stay tuned to Northern Lights Football, here and on Twitter, for scores and notes.
