Minnesota Aurora’s high press and scrappy play Thursday generated opportunities for Sophie French and Saige Wimes to score a goal apiece in a 3-0 road victory over Rochester FC.
Minnesota Aurora stay aggressive to shut out Rochester FC 3-0
Sophie French scored her fourth goal of the season, reaching 10 in her Aurora career.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
June 14, 2024 at 3:33AM
In the 31st minute, Wimes intercepted a short clearance from Rochester goalkeeper Emma Knack and used the advantage to barrel down the sideline. Her cross bounced around in the box, eventually falling to French, who slotted her shot to the lower left side of the net to score.
The goal is French’s fourth of the 2024 season. She is the fifth Minnesota Aurora player to reach 10 career goals.
Rochester then tried to break out of its defensive third - sending numbers forward - but Cat Rapp intercepted the pass. Rapp beat one defender and slid a pass to a wide-open Wimes for a 2-0 cushion in the 57th minute.
“Saige is definitely somebody who’s got that ability to slice and dice,” Sporting Director and coach Colette Montgomery said. “Her footwork is fantastic, and I’m really proud of her performance tonight.”
Katie Duong closed out the game in the 90th minute. After Rochester received its third yellow card of the match, Duong rocketed a shot from 35 yards out for the grand finale.
Minnesota Aurora’s next game is June 16 versus the Chicago Dutch Lions at TCO Stadium.
Minnesota started only two strikers against Seattle, leaving Sang Bin Jeong and Joseph Rosales to provide the width behind Teemu Pukki and Kelvin Yeboah.
