Jun 13, 2026
Minnesota Aurora FC stays perfect, rolls past Edgewater Castle FC 5-0 for eighth straight victory
EAGAN, Minn. — Minnesota Aurora FC continued its dominant march through the 2026 season Friday night at TCO Stadium, scoring four first-half goals and extending its unbeaten start to 8-0-0 with a commanding 5-0 victory over Edgewater Castle FC.
With the win, Aurora remains atop the USL W Heartland Division standings and continued one of the most impressive defensive stretches in club history — still yet to concede a goal this season.
Leading the charge offensively was Star of the Game Skye Leach, who delivered a standout performance with one goal and two assists, while Ai Kitagawa, Jeanette Fieldsend, Gracie Dunaway, and Maia Tabion all added goals in another complete team effort.
Aurora nearly broke through in the 17th minute when Dunaway drove into the box from the left side and forced a spectacular leaping save from Edgewater goalkeeper Molly Vapensky.
The breakthrough came moments later.
Following a short corner sequence in the 18th minute, Dunaway slipped a pass into the area where Fieldsend’s initial effort was stopped, but Leach reacted quickest to bury the rebound and give Minnesota an early 1-0 advantage. The finish marked Leach’s third goal of the season.
Aurora doubled the lead in the 27th minute through the ever-dangerous Kitagawa.
Olivia Rush delivered a long diagonal ball from midfield to the top of the box where Kitagawa settled, touched around a defender and lofted a composed finish over the goalkeeper for her team-leading eighth goal of the campaign.
The home side continued to pour on pressure late in the opening half.
Fieldsend added Aurora’s third in the 38th minute after Leach found her wide on the left. Fieldsend cut inside and drove a shot toward the near post that slipped through the goalkeeper’s hands and into the back of the net.
Just four minutes later, Aurora struck again.
Kitagawa threaded a ball into Leach inside the box, and Leach squared a perfect pass across goal for Dunaway to slide home and make it 4-0 heading into halftime. The goal marked back-to-back matches on the scoresheet for Dunaway.
After an hour-long weather delay interrupted second-half action, Aurora showed no signs of slowing down.
In the 70th minute, Talia Coury connected with Maia Tabion at the top of the box. Tabion created space with a quick move to her right before firing inside the left post to cap the scoring and push the final margin to 5-0.
Defensively, Minnesota remained untouchable once again.
Goalkeeper Isaac Ranson earned the start and recorded his second clean sheet of the season as Aurora extended its remarkable defensive run to 11 shutouts across its last 12 regular-season matches dating back to 2025.
With eight wins through eight matches and momentum continuing to build, Aurora now turns its attention to its final two regular-season home contests next week.
Next Up
Minnesota Aurora FC returns to TCO Stadium on Wednesday, June 17 at 7:00 p.m. to host Sioux Falls City FC before closing out the regular-season home slate on Saturday, June 20 at 4:00 p.m. against River Light FC.
Tickets are available now at MNAurora.com.
