MINNESOTA AURORA GAMEDAY
Minnesota Aurora: Who's back? What's new? How to watch
The Aurora open their new season Wednesday night against Rochester FC, a newcomer to the USL W League's Heartland Division.
May 23, 2023 at 9:34PM
Wednesday: 7 p.m. vs. Rochester FC * TV: Fox 9+
Where: TCO Stadium (Eagan)
The schedule: The Aurora will play 12 games during the regular season, all against other members of the USL W League's Heartland Division. Their six home games will be televised on Fox 9+ and streamed on Fox9.com.
The roster: A returning group of 17 players is joined by 11 newcomers. The returnees include midfielder Morgan Stone, whose nine goals were second-most on the team last year, and forward Maya Hansen of Savage, who broke South Dakota State's career points record last fall. Three new midfielders — Sophie French, Hannah Adler and Vienna Behnke — have pro soccer experience, and standout defenders Kennedy Faulknor and Tianna Harris join a group that recorded six shutouts last season.
More than half the roster is from Minnesota, including Mariah Nguyen (Andover/St. Thomas), Jelena Zbiljic (Excelsior/Gophers) and Arianna Del Moral (Brooklyn Park/St. Cloud State).
The league: The USL W League expanded from 44 to 65 teams this year and added a second Minnesota club, Rochester FC. In addition to Rochester and the Aurora, the Heartland Division includes two clubs based in Chicago and three in Wisconsin (Green Bay, Glendale and Racine/Kenosha). The playoff format also has expanded to 16 teams and four rounds of competition.
Minnesota started only two strikers against Seattle, leaving Sang Bin Jeong and Joseph Rosales to provide the width behind Teemu Pukki and Kelvin Yeboah.
