USL W LEAGUE: Utah United advances to national finals in first year in league with 1-0 victory over Minnesota Aurora
- Dan Stickradt
- Jul 12
- 2 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
EAGAN, Minn. – Expansion teams don’t often fare well in a first season in any league – in any sport and at any level.
Someone forgot to tell that to Utah United.
In its first-year in the USL W League as an expansion club in the 93-team league, Utah United advanced to the national championship match next weekend with a 1-0 victory over powerhouse Minnesota Aurora in front of 5,.607 fans at TCO Stadium.
Utah United, known for its offensive output, posted its second straight postseason shutout and became the first team to shut out Minnesota at home all season.
Ellie Walbruch scored a close-range goal in traffic in the 45th minute and her defense held on to the lead in a battle of top 25 ranked sides.
Goalkeeper Taylor Rath earned the shutout for Utah United (12-1-0), who have won six straight matches including three straight in the postseason where it has a 5-1 scoring edge in wins over FC Olympia (2-1), Stockton Cargo FC (2-0) and Minnesota Aurora.
Rath and her teammates have recorded eight clean sheets this season and now have outscored the opposition 66-6 overall (61-5 in the regular season). Utah United had the nation’s best offense this season and now have averaged 5.08 goals-per-game while posting a stingy 0.47 goals-against-average.
Utah United’s award? They will face defending USL W League national champion North Carolina Courage U23 July 19 at a site and time to be determined.
Minnesota Aurora, which finished as the national runner-up in 2022, suffered its first and only loss of the season and fell to 12-1-2. The Aurora posted nine shutouts this season including clean sheets against the Pittsburgh Riveters (2-0) and King’s Hammer (1-0) in the first two rounds.
Minnesota’s goals-against-average ends up at a paltry 0.34 while the Aurora averaged 2.14 goals-per-game.
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