MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Aurora FC continued its winning streak on Sunday, beating the St. Louis Lions 4-1 in front of a sold-out crowd at TCO Stadium.
The Aurora (8-0-1) now enters its final three games, which are all on the road, with an eight-game winning streak that began after the team's first-ever game ended in a draw.
According to the team, 5,944 fans were in attendance for Sunday's final home game.
Nine minutes into the match, Minnesota's Morgan Turner made a penalty kick to put the Aurora up 1-0 early on. At 20 minutes, Morgan Stone added to the Aurora's lead with another penalty kick.
The St. Louis Lions (0-9-0) would get their only goal of the match a few minutes later to bring the score to 2-1. However, the Aurora would strike back at the 36-minute mark with a goal by Mariah Nguyen, her second goal in two games, to increase their lead to 3-1.
Stone made a second goal at 60 minutes, putting the Aurora up 4-1 and sealing the team's eighth-straight win.
With two goals on Sunday, Stone now leads the team in goals made this season with four, followed by Nguyen's three, and was named the Star of the Game.
The team's confidence is growing with so many players who are able to contribute. So far, 15 players have points on the season (goals or assists).
“So many players have points which is impressive. That’s helped build our confidence – that anybody on the team can score at any time,” Aurora head coach Nicole Lukic said in the team's press release. “Lots of quality minutes for lots of players today.”
Before Sunday's game, the team announced on Twitter that tickets for the game were sold out, making for the second-straight sold-out home game. Friday's game had more than 6,000 fans in attendance and set a new franchise attendance record.
“The support is what has made this team what it is,” Stone said. “We’re having so much fun, and we want to show that when we win, we’re having fun. When we get the crow involved, we’re having fun.”
Minnesota's next game is on the road against the Chicago Dutch Lions (2-3-0) on Thursday, July 30, followed by two road games against the Green Bay Glory (5-1-2) on July 7 and July 9.
With a three-win lead in the division standings, the Aurora are close to securing first place in the Heartland Division, which would also secure them in the USL W League's playoffs. According to the league, the seven division winners and one wild card go to the playoffs. Regardless of which wild card team makes the playoffs, the winner of the Heartland Division would play a team from the Great Lakes Division.
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