3,724 fans came out on a breezy Thursday night in May for Minnesota Aurora's fifth ever home opener. Three first half goals and three second half goals, lead by an Ai Kitagawa hat trick, Aurora crushed their opponents in Rochester FC to officially open the new USL W League season.
The first lineup for Aurora was brand new but also had some similarities to the past. Manager Jen Larrick brought out the same 4-4-2 formation she has in the past and what Aurora is known for. Ai Kitagawa (Memphis) and Skye Leach (Kentucky) started up top while Taylor Fox (South Carolina) started in goal for Aurora.
Northland Soccer Journal
With two tuneup matches in the book Aurora came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. And it did not take the hosts long to score. Ten minutes in and Ai Kitagawa chipped Rochester goalkeeper Kyra Holmes to score the first of many Aurora goals on the night. Just under 15 minutes later the Loons were called for a handball in the box, awarding Aurora with a penalty. Kitagawa stepped to the spot and buried to put Aurora up 2–0 in under 30 minutes of football.
Minnesota continued to control the pace of the match and frustrate Rochester. That boiled over for the first time after Zerina Markovic (Memphis) was shown a yellow card just past the 40th minute. Then in the 44th minute Hannah Boughton scored to make the match 3–0 at the break.
Northland Soccer Journal
At the resumption of the second half Aurora made a double substitution with Jeanette Fieldsend and Maia Tabion replacing Thalia Morisi and Flavie Dubé. The set of subs kept the fire in Aurora going and the hosts hammered Rochester with plenty of shots. Ai Kitagawa came ultra close to getting a hat trick early into the half, but her shot missed wide right of the goal.
Even then Aurora only took 11 minutes in the second half to score a fourth goal, with Jeanette Fieldsend, who had just come on as a sub, getting the goal. Shortly after the goal Rochester made a double change and Aurora countered with a triple change. That triple change did kept the fire going for Aurora and after a cross Ai Kitagawa tapped a shot in from the top of the six to earn herself a debut hat trick.
Immediately following the 61st minute goal Talia Coury (Idaho State) came on for Kitagawa. Three minutes later Coury earned herself a debut goal with an assist coming from Fieldsend putting Aurora up 6–0 with 25 minutes left to play. Aurora continued to control play and momentum but didn't put the same effort into scoring a seventh goal and closed out the season opener with a huge 6–0 clean sheet victory.
Up next for Aurora is an away match this Saturday in Madison, WI as Minnesota Aurora will meet Rally Madison for the first time ever. Madison fell 2–1 last night on the road to River Light in their first ever match. Saturday's match at Breese Stevens Field is Rally's first ever home contest.
