Tonight two of the best sides in the W League and the best in the Heartland face off for the first time in 2026. Sioux Falls City FC (4-0-0) hosts Minnesota Aurora (6-0-0) in what is the clear Northland Soccer Match of the Week for this entire week. Minnesota Aurora has had a dominant start to 2026 securing a clean sheet in every single match they've played. Goalkeeper Taylor Fox has three of those and Isaac Ranson has another one, with the other two being a combined effort between two keepers.
Not only is the defence one of the toughest to break in the country but the offence is also firing on all cylinders. Scoring 19 goals in six matches Aurora's offence is led by Japanese midfielder Ai Kitagawa (Memphis) with seven goals on the season. Kitagawa has nabbed a hat trick and a brace in separate matches, proving to be dangerous anytime she finds herself on the end of the ball. After struggling to break through RKC's defence the question now for Aurora is whether they can do the same against Sioux Falls, who've only given up two goals this season.
Led by longtime coach Joe DeMay, Sioux Falls City FC have played less matches but have had almost as dominating a start to the season as Aurora. In just four matches City has scored 12 goals, including a 6-0 blasting of Rochester FC last Wednesday night at home. Sioux Falls scoring is led by Sioux Falls native Hailee Christensen (South Dakota State) with 5 goals and two separate braces coming against Rockford and Madison. Sadie Strait (South Dakota) and Keyera Harmon (Morningside) both have two goals on the campaign and three others have scored once.
Defensively the hosts are a solid team allowing only two goals this season, both coming in separate matches. The first was in the season opener against Rockford while the second came in match three against Rally Madison. Matches two and four of the season were clean sheets with primary starter and former Eintracht Frankfurt reserves goalkeeper Hannah Johann (North Carolina) earning one. Tania Hernandez (Dakota Wesleyan) earned a clean sheet in her only start of the season, that being last weeks thrashing of Rochester FC.
News & Notes
Tonight's match is set for a 6pm kickoff and you can watch live on Midco Sports (where available), FOX9+, Fox Local, and SportsEngine Play.
Former Minnesota Aurora and North Central (MN) manager Colette Montgomery is an assistant coach for unbeaten Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls City FC has four players with Minnesota ties to them. Aftyn Murray and Avery Korshing both come from MSU-Mankato while Lakeville native McKenna Lehman plays college soccer at St. Thomas. Goalkeeper Hannah Johann also attended Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Fairbault.
Minnesota Aurora's Ai Kitagawa and Sioux Falls Yui Fujii both hail from Japan's Keihanshin metro area.
