Souhan: Minnesota Aurora again experience a rare loss at a high cost, falling to Utah in USL W semifinals

Minnesota Aurora coach Jen Larrick was standing in the haze, weighing mixed emotions, when she looked across the field and sighed.

“It’s hard to watch them dancing right now,” she said.

The Aurora lost 1-0 to Utah United in the USL W League semifinals Saturday night at TCO Stadium, before a crowd of 5,607.

The Aurora have lost two home games in their four-season history. Both losses ended seasons.

They have not lost a regular-season game, but have yet to win a league title, as if they’re emulating every major Minnesota sports team other than the Lynx.

This, of course, is different. These are pre-professional players spending a summer playing soccer in Minnesota instead of, as Larrick said Saturday, going to the beach, sleeping in and watching Netflix.

So while there were tears and long hugs after the game, there was also perspective.

“It’s such a mix of emotions,” said defender Charley Boone, who was named the Star Tribune star of the match and also was a member of the league’s team of the month in June. “Obviously, the season’s come to an end, but you’re overflowing with such joy and love for this community, and this atmosphere is absolutely insane. These are some of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had. Playing in front of this crowd, it’s just been electric. So while it’s really sad, it’s also like you’re thinking back to everything that’s happened this season.”

The Aurora finished their season 12-1-2.

Utah dominated play early, but then the Aurora started sending long passes in the direction of forward Ava Westlund, who repeatedly outraced the Utah defense to create scoring opportunities.

Westlund’s sprints were particularly impressive because of the conditions — warm and humid, with haze making breathing difficult.

“The air quality, I honestly feel like it hit me a little bit,” she said. “We’ve worked so hard this season, and it does take a toll on your body. But in this type of environment with all of our adrenaline going, I feel like we were able to push through it. It just didn’t pay off in the end. But it’s OK.”

Westlund is from Arden Hills and is playing at California Baptist, a Division I program in Riverside, Calif.

She is one of many Aurora players who have made the program sound like an idyllic summer camp, only with fans and heartbreak.

“God, it’s hard,” Larrick said. “It’s really hard. They work so hard to go undefeated, and it stings. This has happened every year that I’ve been here. It stings when you lose and you don’t get a chance again. In these summer windows, you can’t afford to lose in the regular season. It really sets you back.

“There’s only one team that gets through — it’s a difficult league to get out of. But in some ways, it would be sweeter to lose and then get to respond to it …

“All I want to do right now is to play them again in two days, and we can’t. So I’ll sit with this feeling and we’ll get a chance again in May.”

Utah is a first-year expansion team that modeled itself on Aurora’s success. Larrick noted that Utah is loaded with players from quality youth and college soccer programs.

“All credit to them,” Larrick said. “They came here and matched us at the beginning. I think we got the run of play as time went on, but all the credit to them. They get a goal and hang on.”

That goal was only the second the Aurora allowed at home this season.

“They were a really good team,” Boone said. “Really, really classy. I feel like they just kept the ball a lot better than we’ve seen in past games. It’s hard to score when you don’t have the ball.”