Minnesota Aurora FC is an American women's soccer club based in

Eagan, Minnesota Eagan ( ) is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. It is south of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul and lies on the south bank of the Minnesota River, upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi River. Eagan and the other near ...

that plays in the Heartland Division of the

USL W League The USL W League (USLW) is a Women's association football, women's soccer league in the United States. It began play in May 2022 and follows the USL W-League (1995–2015), USL W-League, a similar league that existed from 1995 to 2015. It is c ...

. The club began play in the league's inaugural 2022 season as a founding club. The club is community-owned by 3,080 individuals. The club plays its home games at TCO Stadium in

, the same stadium the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

use for practice.

History

Minnesota Aurora FC officially sold out their ownership sales on December 15, 2021. The team introduced their coaching staff a few days later, naming Nicole Lukic as the head coach and ensuring the team would be women-led. The team held tryouts during the spring of 2022 and in May the team announced a partnership with local broadcaster WCCO to stream all home games for free. The team held their first game at TCO Stadium on May 26, 2022, against Green Bay Glory. The match resulted in a draw but the Minnesota team drew 5,219 fans. Their first win would be against Kaw Valley on June 2. On October 24, 2022, the club sent a letter to its community owners stating an intent to become a fully professional team. The Aurora would continue to play in the USL W League through the 2023 season, possibly moving to

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL) or the

USL Super League The USL Super League (USLS), officially known as the Gainbridge Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional women's soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system, alongside the National Women's Socce ...

in 2024. The club announced their intent to submit an official expansion bid for the NWSL in November. The team notified its community owners on August 15, 2024, that it would be dropping out of the NWSL bid process due to "circumstances out of

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

control".

Branding

The crest of Minnesota Aurora FC features a stylized

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

swooping above a forest with a star hanging to the right. The inspiration for the design came from

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

's northern geographic identity and nickname of the North Star State. The crest was designed by local designer Nicole Meyer, along with help from colleagues Allie Reinke and Carla Zetina-Yglesias. The crest was originally one of three designs, all of which were voted on by the community members. Other names considered for the new team included Arctic Minnesota and Minnesota Foxfire FC, all designed by Meyer, Reinke, and Zetina-Yglesias. The kit worn by MN Aurora FC was designed by Cassidy Sepnieski and was revealed on April 9, 2022. Manufactured by

Hummel International Hummel International Sport & Leisure A/S, commonly known as Hummel (stylized hummel), is a German-founded Danish manufacturing company of sportswear brand based in Aarhus. It is owned by Thornico. The company currently manufactures apparel for foo ...

, the home kit features a dark background with a borealis swirling in the center. The away kit is bright teal, with interlinking stars forming constellations. The goalkeeper kit is "flash red" and also sports the same constellation pattern as the away kit.

Club culture

The club has one supporters' group, named Revontulet (Finnish for Northern Lights), which sits in a designated section at the stadium.

Players and staff

Current Roster

Management

Coaching staff * Jen Larrick – head coach * Melanie Thomas – assistant coach * Lydia Ruppert – assistant coach * Cody Cropper – goalkeeper coach

Record

Year-by-year

Head coaches

* Includes Regular Season and Playoffs. Excludes friendlies.

Honors

** Regular Season Champions:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

** Heartland Division Champions:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Player honors

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Association football, United States Soccer clubs in Minneapolis–Saint Paul Association football clubs established in 2021 2021 establishments in Minnesota USL W League teams Women's sports in Minneapolis