MILWAUKEE - Saige Wimes and Sophie French scored twice and Minnesota Aurora clinched a USL W playoff spot with a 7-0 victory over Bavarian United SC on Thursday.
Minnesota Aurora clinch playoff spot with rout of Bavarian United
The playoffs will begin next weekend, with dates, times and host teams to be determined.
The Aurora (9-0-2) are the third Central Conference team to secure their postseason bid. The conference semifinals and finals will take place next weekend, with seeding and host sites to be determined.
“Credit to the people who have been here previously, we’re continuing this winning tradition,” Aurora coach Colette Montgomery said, “It’s a privilege to do that. We’re excited for the future but taking it one game at a time.”
Wimes broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the 27th minute. Three minutes later, Mariah Nguyen was tripped in the box and Katie Duong converted on the penalty, and the rout was on. Duong has scored a goal in six consecutive matches for Minnesota Aurora.
Nguyen scored before the first half ended. Wimes scored her second goal early in the second half, and French came off the bench to score two goals, including with her head off a corner kick from Duong to make it 6-0. Giada Zhou scored the final goal with a rocketing strike from distance.
The Aurora’s last regular-season game is Saturday at RKC Third Coast in Racine, Wis.
Minnesota started only two strikers against Seattle, leaving Sang Bin Jeong and Joseph Rosales to provide the width behind Teemu Pukki and Kelvin Yeboah.