Minnesota Aurora FC's home opener is Thursday night, and the pre-pro team will be led by new head coach and sporting director Collette Montgomery.
The game against RKC Third Coast at 7 p.m. at TCO Stadium coincides with the Minnesota professional women's hockey team winning the inaugural Walter Cup in Lowell, Mass., on Wednesday and with increased attention on women's professional basketball in recent months.
“We know Minnesota is a great market for women's sports,” Montgomery told MPR News on Thursday, “and we're excited to be a part of that.”
Montgomery moved to Minnesota for an internship nearly 20 years ago and has never left the state since, staying deeply rooted in the local soccer community, including a stint as coach at Northcentral College in Minneapolis. Montgomery is currently in her first season with Aurora, after the team's first coach, Nicole Lukic, moved on to the U.S. Soccer Team.
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“I think soccer is growing globally, the U.S. Women's National Team has played a big role in being a pioneer as you see it in the World Cup, and then you're going to see a lot of attention on women's soccer in particular with the Olympics this year,” Montgomery said, noting that thanks to the efforts of “a lot of women over the course of several generations,” women's sports have now come “to the forefront.”
Lukic's years at Aurora laid a strong foundation for Montgomery's further development, as she said her coaching style was “creating a supportive, positive environment that empowers and prepares young women to make decisions and play a really exciting game of soccer.”
Aurora now has depth at every position and will place an emphasis on organized, disciplined defense combined with a “relentless” offense.
“We want to entertain the crowd and score a lot of goals. That's been our goal since day one,” Montgomery said.
Aurora is undefeated in a regular-season match since the USL W-League's creation in 2022. Thursday's home opener was Aurora's third game of the season, with Aurora winning against the Chicago Dutch Lions and drawing with River Light FC. Last year, Aurora added a second team, Aurora 2, to the United Premier Soccer League in an effort to develop young talent.
“I really enjoy watching these young women grow and develop and become the best version of themselves not only on the soccer field but in life,” Montgomery said.
