W League Final: Tormenta FC deal MN Aurora FC their first loss to become inaugural USL W Champions
The inaugural W-League season came to a close on Saturday night in Eagan, Minnesota, with South Georgia Tormenta FC stunning Minnesota Aurora FC and taking the trophy with a 2–1 win in overtime.
An early goal by Tormenta proved this would be a tough matchup. A freekick in the 8th minute led to Tormenta’s Jaida Nyby making a central run toward goal. Aurora defender Abby Ostrem lost track of her in space and goalkeeper Sarah Fuller came out to clear, but Nyby fired a quick shot and sent it past Fuller. For just the second time, Aurora was down 1–0 in the first half.
Tormenta head coach Jim Robbins was impressed with Nyby’s game and her development over the last few matches:
She’s great player, great player. I mean, we did something about four or five games ago. She’s actually a true midfielder. So we decided we’re going to tuck them in and play like a pinched in seven for her and she’s done that for the last five games and has just brought a different dimension to her game, I think probably something that she didn’t know that she has. I think she told me after she scored that one goal, two games back, that’s the first time she ever scored. I’m like dude, you can do this! For her to bag that to win this game, you know at this level with that type of pressure, awesome for her.
The goal served to light a fire in Aurora’s midfield and the squad started to press forward more, as they normally do.
“Yeah, we came out flat, to be honest, the first 10 minutes,” said Minnesota head coach Nicole Lukic. “So then for us to get scored on I think kind of woke us up a little bit and we had a couple players like Rachel Preston, Cat Rapp and Addie [Symonds], who really started changing the game for us changing the momentum.”
Quick thinking by Symonds in the 22' led to the equalizer. She needed only two touches — and a quick glance up to see Tormenta goalkeeper Sydney Martinez off her line — to make the golazo happen.
“Honestly, not much thought went into it,” Symonds said. “You know Kenzie [Langdok] was able to get thrown off early. And I just felt like I was like, okay, I gotta get this off my foot fast and it ended up going where I wanted it.”
Lukic said, “She’s been she’s been very close in a lot of other games so to see her finally put it in like that, it was a special moment for the team and we’re super proud of her.”
Despite numerous chances and saves, the score was still 1–1 at halftime. And the two sides continued to trade turnovers and counterattacks. With neither team’s attempts on goal coming through, even with five minutes of stoppage time added, the score was still 1–1 at the end of regulation.
About halfway into the first overtime period, Minnesota was given a chance to break through. Tormenta was called for a handball in the box in the 111' and Morgan Turner took the penalty shot. Sydney Martinez’s double save was the game changer Tormenta needed.
Martinez described the moment: “I was like okay, what are we going to do here? Yeah, she’s gonna be - she’s super nervous. I’m nervous. Let’s just wait till she picks it up. Then I just hold everything I had in my body. I just pushed out as hard as I could, got to it. I knew my girls would have my back chasing my rebound in and then it just it went out. So we had it.”
“And the scary thing is she really hasn’t had a whole lot of big saves this summer,” Robbins said. “She stepped up and delivered. And that’s why she’s the best keeper in the league.”
The penalty save set the stage for Nyby’s brace. After Fuller tallied a double save of her own through traffic, the clearance found Nyby outside of the 18. With Fuller committed to her right, Nyby’s long range shot found a clear path to the near post and in, putting Tormenta up 2–1 in the 115'.
Martinez had more work to do at the other end to hold Aurora scoreless for the remaining five minutes of extra time, but she finished the job.
“I mean hats off to their goalkeeper,” Lukic said. “She had a incredible game we definitely had more chances throughout the game and she kept them in it and that in my opinion was the difference.”
Martinez was voted MVP for her efforts, adding to South Georgia Tormenta FC’s honors on the season. While Tormenta raised the trophy, a record-breaking crowd raised Aurora.
Minnesota Aurora FC added 300 tickets to their expanded postseason allotment and sold all 6,500 seats. At the end of the night, 6,489 fans had come through the gates of TCO Stadium and at least a third stayed in the stadium through the medal and trophy ceremony.
“Yeah, I mean, that’s what this is about, right? Sucks to lose but in in the greater scope of things Minnesota Aurora Women’s Soccer has changed women’s soccer as a whole for the better. So we have a lot to be proud of,” said Lukic about the fans’ support.
“Sometimes it doesn’t always roll our way. But we’re still walking away very proud of what we’ve built this year. And we’ll be back. We’ll be back for next year.”
