USL-W Week 1: MN Aurora debut
Minnesota Aurora’s inaugural match drew 5,219 eager women’s soccer supporters to Eagan on a Thursday night full of potential. Visiting side Green Bay Glory, which played the last three seasons in the WPSL, challenged the new club in an exciting way and in the end stole what was about to be a storybook win.
Goalkeeper Sarah Fuller, Aurora’s first player signing, was put to work early by Glory’s Christine Kitaru and Laura Linares. Inside of the first minute of play, a curling shot from Kitaru forced Fuller into her first leaping save of the night — a perfect illustration of the athleticism that led the Vanderbilt alum to become the first woman to kick in a Power 5 football game. With that settled, the end-to-end action began.
Runs by Sangmin Cha, one of two international players on the Minnesota squad, and Maple Grove, MN-native Morgan Turner brought fans to their feet multiple times through the first half. Kitaru and Linares ran it back, with the full support of a well-organized Green Bay midfield. Thanks to the efforts of Fuller and Green Bay’s Alyssa Stumbaugh in goal, it was still 0–0 at halftime.
Minnesota head coach Nicole Lukic made one change at halftime, bringing on Shelby Hopeau for defender Abby Ostrem. It was a shot from Hopeau that found the back of the net (with an error by Stumbaugh that made some question an own goal) in the 53’ to give Aurora the first goal of the night and the first in franchise history. “[It was] a big moment for her to get some time in the game and then even bigger moment to score the first goal in franchise history,” said Lukic.
Green Bay turned up the heat looking for an equalizer, but they didn’t find it until the 89’, when Linares sent in a header that bounced over Fuller and dropped across the goal line. The crowd would not be deterred, and the chants grew louder as attacking runs continued through five minutes of added time.
The 1–1 finish drew breaths of relief from players, fans, coaches, and founders. After a whirlwind year of planning, the first match is out of the way (with a favorable result) and it’s time to settle in for a tight slate of matches.
