Nguyen’s Brace Lifts Minnesota Aurora FC Over Chicago City, 4-1

EAGAN, Minn. – In front of a crowd of 4,798, Minnesota Aurora defeated Chicago City, 4-1, at TCO Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With the win, Minnesota improves its record to 8-0-2 and maintains its place at the top of the Heartland Division.

“I love our mentality right now, we’ve been building on that,” said Sporting Director and Head Coach Colette Montgomery. “Chicago City is a great team, well coached, and tactically made good decisions. We knew it was going to be a tough game. I’m incredibly proud of the mental performance today, especially in the driving rain. Thank you to all the fans that came out, even though it was a rainy day.”

Aurora was quick to get on the board first at the 1:41 mark. After a foul drawn by Mariah Nguyen at the top left corner of the 18-yard box, Katie Duong finished the free kick bar-down past the Chicago City Keeper.

In the 33rd minute, Nguyen got in on the action, scoring her sixth goal of the season. Following a throw-in from Chicago City, Nguyen dribbled into the box and netted a goal by deflecting the ball off a City defender.

Eleven minutes into the second half, Chicago City converted a penalty kick to bring the deficit down to one goal. Julia Sattler committed a foul just above the penalty mark, and Chicago capitalized on the opportunity.

Seconds later, Saige Wimes won possession following kickoff and dribbled down the right sideline. Nguyen paced down the middle and found Wimes’ cross, placing the ball in the back of the net. For the brace, Nguyen earned StarTribune Star of the Game accolades.

Coming off the bench to score the Minnesota Lottery Play of the Game, Kelis Barton extended Aurora’s lead 4-1 in the 77th minute. Thanks to an assist from Duong, Barton placed the upper corner shot from 20 yards out.

Aurora closes out the regular season on the road against Bavarian United (June 27) and RKC Third Coast (June 29).

Schedule and ticket information can be found at mnaurora.com. Stream all Aurora home games on FOX 9+ or on your TV with FOX LOCAL from anywhere for free. Just search FOX LOCAL on your streaming device, download, and select FOX 9 St. Paul/Minneapolis. For more info, go to FOX9.com/FOXLOCAL.