Late in the first half, Minnesota Aurora supporters tried their first chant, a call and response.
From the north bleachers: "Minnesota!"
From the south bleachers: "Aurora!"
After about three back-and-forths, the call petered out. But when the Aurora came out of the lockers for the second half, the chant reached an echoing roar.
It mirrored the performance of the brand-new pre-professional soccer team on the field, a roster of players that had never seen live game action together slowly finding their groove. As the cheer found its consonance, Aurora's Shelby Hopeau connected on a 25-yard blast in the 53rd minute. If not for a 89th minute Green Bay Glory equalizer to force a 1-1 draw, the calls would've echoed throughout the night.
The culmination of a women's soccer project hatched in the parking lot of St. Paul brewery two years ago brought a sold-out crowd of 5,219 fans to TCO Stadium Thursday night. It's an attendance mark that bested last week's median crowd size in the NWSL, the top level of women's soccer in the United States.
"It was incredible," head coach Nicole Lukic said of the fan support. "During warmups, you could just slowly kind of see everybody start trickling in. It was just becoming more and more packed, and then to hear the supporters' groups and the chants and the drums, it was such a professional atmosphere, and I know our players just absolutely loved it."
Beyond the filled seats, standing fans circled the raised concourse at TCO Stadium. Some brought blankets to huddle on the small grass hill built into the west end of the stadium. The supporters' section — which calls itself the Revontulet, the Finnish word for Aurora — waved five custom flags and banged a small drum through the full 90 minutes.
A Green Bay shot 44 seconds into the game drew immediate gasps from the crowd as goalkeeper and captain Sarah Fuller went full extension on a diving save to her right.
So did repeated Aurora chances in the first half. In the 10th minute, forward Morgan Turner raced past the Green Bay fullback and unleashed Minnesota's first-ever shot into the arms of keeper Alyssa Stumbaugh.
The Aurora's best chance of the half came eight minutes later when left winger Maya Hansen skimmed a shot along the grass through the legs of a defender and past Stumbaugh's fingertips to rattle the far post.
"We certainly created a ton of opportunities," Lukic said. "We just have to learn to put those away and make that extra effort and put out body on the line to finish those."
Hopeau, who graduated from high school in Hawaii last week, subbed on at halftime and finished on the most improbable opportunity of the night.
Standing on the faded 15-yard line leftover from Vikings practices, she launched an arcing bomb that bounced under the foot of the center back into an unattended net.
History made.
"I was like, 'Please go in. Please go in. God help me,' " Hopeau said.
After the unluckiness of the first half, the fortunate bounce positioned Minnesota and the erupting supporters to find three points in Game 1.
"Wasn't pretty, but we'll take it," Lukic said. "Especially with Shelby, she just got here three days ago from Hawaii. So, big moment for her to get subbed in the game, and then an even bigger moment to score the first goal in franchise history."
For the next 36 minutes, that path to a win looked strong. The offense continued to click with Hansen's speed on the left and an attacking injection from subbed on dental student and former Michigan State standout Kristelle Yewah.
In goal, Fuller looked impenetrable. After the diving save to open the game, she dazzled again on a first-half set piece, using every bit of her height as she dived backward to get her hand on the shot.
But as the game entered the 89th minute, after Green Bay had stalled offensively since the first half, Glory forward Laura Linares executed a perfect header on a cross that looped over Fuller to equalize.
From the postgame reaction you would've never known. Fans in the stands stood with raised scarves and the Aurora players, still in uniform, walked to the sideline to sign young fans' memorabilia long after night fell and the floodlights turned on.
