Undefeated Minnesota Aurora punch ticket to championship game
Minnesota Aurora FC celebrates after beating McLean Soccer 1-0 in the USL W semifinals on Sunday at TCO Stadium. ((credit: Minnesota Aurora FC))
EAGAN, Minn. (FOX 9) - After an amazing inaugural season, the Minnesota Aurora Football Club is headed to the USL W championship game.
The still undefeated pre-professional women's soccer team, which went 11-0-1 in the regular season, took down McLean Soccer in the USL W semifinals at TCO Stadium on Sunday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 6,200 fans.
The two teams were tied at half, but that changed in Minnesota Aurora's favor after coach Nicole Lukic made a substitution to put Morgan Turner in the game. Turner scored her eighth goal of the season, and got a point for the fifth straight game, to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead in the 52nd minute. That lead held for the win.
"Our players did a really good job of playing true to who we are and battling through it," Lukic said.
The 1-0 win over McLean punches the Aurora's ticket to the USL W Championship game. The Aurora are set to take on the winner of the South Georgia Tormenta FC or the Greenville Liberty SC. They face off Sunday night in South Carolina.
Minnesota will host the championship game at TCO Stadium next Saturday, July 23 at 7 p.m. Minnesota Aurora FC has won 13 straight games since playing Green Bay Glory to a 1-1 draw in its inaugural game in franchise history.