It took a slow wind up to get there but Minnesota Aurora is on the fast track to the next round of the USL W League playoffs.
Minnesota Aurora rallies to beat Indy Eleven in USL W League playoffs
Mayu Inokawa's penalty kick goal in the 65th minute put Aurora ahead and into the next round of the postseason.
July 14, 2022 at 3:02AM
Mayu Inokawa's penalty kick in the 65th minute, in which she stutter-stepped for seven full seconds on the TCO Stadium field before picking a corner and burying it past Mackenzie Wood, put Aurora ahead 2-1 over Indy Eleven. The score held in front of an announced 6,200 fans, advancing Aurora into Sunday's 5 p.m. semifinal home match against McLean Soccer.
The win keeps Aurora undefeated at 12-0-1. This was the first loss of the season for Indy Eleven (10-1-2).
Before the winning strike, Inokawa's first career goal, Aurora goalkeeper Sarah Fuller saved a penalty kick in the 25th minute, diving to her left and punching the ball away with both palms to prevent an early Indy lead. But nine minutes later Fuller could not keep the scoreless tie when Elle Rodgers found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Aurora leveled the score after halftime on Morgan Turner's left-footed curling strike in the 50th minute. It was Turner's sixth goal in the last four games.
Minnesota started only two strikers against Seattle, leaving Sang Bin Jeong and Joseph Rosales to provide the width behind Teemu Pukki and Kelvin Yeboah.
