Report by Kevin Kyle, photos by Travis Gallipo
For the second time in four days the Sioux Falls City Football Club faced Central Conference Heartland Division leaders Minnesota Aurora FC at Bob Young Field in Sioux Falls.
After dropping the first of three scheduled meetings between the clubs, June 6 in Eagan, MN, City earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw in first of two home matches Tuesday in Sioux Falls – setting up another explosive encounter Friday night.
Neither side sputtered in the rubber match, of sorts, but Aurora FC’s 30th-minute tally by Ava Westlund coupled with a successful penalty kick by Elizabeth Rapp 10 minutes later proved enough to stave off City’s second-half comeback bid to claim a 2-1 victory. 
“It’s disappointing, sure, but I give it to my team for continuing to push through… all the way to the last minute,” said SFCFC veteran defender and SFCFC captain on the night Lulu Moreno. “That’s what I love about them, all the way until the last minute they continue to give it their best effort.”
Friday night’s 94-degree heat was difficult enough for all involved, and accompanying stiff southerly breeze (20+ mph) had the team defending the north goal scrambling throughout. Unfortunately for City, it was the side to face the headwind first. And Westlund took full advantage of the added zip behind her shot that beat Campbell Fischer to the SFCFC goalkeeper’s right from 20 yards out.
No worry, SFCFC had trailed Aurora FC for much of its previous two tilts. As it’s done all season, City shook off the punch and looked to throw a few of its own before having the wind at its back. Fortune, however, was hiding from the hosts Friday night, as 10 minutes after Westlund’s left-footed strike, City was called for a handball in the box – resulting in an Aurora FC penalty kick.
Following a stellar save from Campbell, the rebound came out to Aurora’s Catherine Rapp for another go at the City net. A sliding Yui Fujii took the full force of Rapp’s blast on her face – bloodying her nose in the process. Either the referee didn’t see it properly or thought it hit the midfielder’s hand before it smashed into her head, but despite pleas from City players, coaches and fans alike, the result was an Aurora FC penalty kick with five minutes remaining in the opening half
“He couldn’t even give me a clear answer back,” said the City captain. “He said he saw a clear handball, and I asked if he could explain why she had a bloody nosed if she didn’t have her head whipped back from defending it with her face. He gave me a blank stare and walked away from me.”
And, in turn, Elizabeth Rapp stared down Fischer on the PK and calmly deposited the ball into the same corner Westlund scored in 10 minutes prior – lifting the visitors to a 2-0 lead with 55 minutes remaining in the contest.
“It’s very unfortunate; you take that away and I believe we have a tie, at least, or a win,” said Moreno. “It was uncalled for to be honest.”
City regrouped at the interval and came out breathing fire in front of a strong tailwind. Although many through balls rolled long in the decisive draft, City ran onto a few and started pecking away at Aurora FC keeper Taylor Kane.
City earned a trio of corner kicks for its efforts over the initial 14 minutes of the second stanza and were eventually rewarded for their persistent pressure in the 63rd.
A pick off at midfield turned into instant offense for the hosts, as Katharina Oelschlaeger squared a pass to striking partner Hailee Christensen. The hot striker of late for City, scoring three goals in the previous two matches, made it four in three – noting Kane off her line and chipping the ball 35 yards to the open net. The goal not only whittled the deficit in half but rattled the Heartland Division leaders to the core.
“She looked up, saw the goalie was out, and just shot it over her,” said City midfielder Mia Bosch of Christensen’s unlikely tally. “It wasn’t easy with this wind, but she saw the chance and took it.”
Had the visitors not been gifted the penalty kick, City would have been pressing for the go-ahead tally. Instead, the final 25 minutes of the hard-fought contest saw City press on for an equalizer.
Despite shots coming in from Bosch, MaKenna Lehman, Christensen and Nadja Meite, Kane and company did enough, on and off the ball (time wasting), to quell wave after wave of SFCFC offensive pressure.
The victory gives Aurora FC (9-1-0) 28 points on the season, while City (16 pts.) drop to 5-1-3 on the season with three matches to play.
As always, City has its collective eye on improvement. 
“We’re looking to win the rest of our games and show we could have beaten Aurora… gave them some really good matches this season,” said Bosch, who had several key attacking passes after entering the fray at the break. “We’re looking to finish the season as strong as we can.”
First up for City is Rochester FC (3-1-5), Tuesday evening in Rochester, MN. City has knocked off a solid Rochester club twice this season, besting RFC 2-1 on the road and claiming a 6-0 shutout, June 14 at Bob Young Field.
City will not travel to Wisconsin to face RKC Third Coast on June 26 but rather will host the basement dwellers (0-1-8) at 6 p.m., June 27 at Bob Young Field. After watching RKC abandon the scheduled first meeting (June 1) of the sides due to ‘air-quality issues,’ the USL W ruled the match a forfeit and the second tilt to be played in Sioux Falls.
That works out well for the first-time USL W combatants, as City will have two home games to wrap up its season – hosting River Light in the finale. Besides Aurora FC, RL is the only other team to defeat SFCFC this campaign, besting City 3-0 in its regular-season opener.
“We go into every game knowing we’re there and trying to play to the City standard,” said Moreno. “I expect nothing less from this group in the rest of our games. I felt in that first game we were trying to get our footing, but now that we’ve found it… found the connections, found the chemistry, we can definitely give them the match we were hoping to the first time.”
This is OUR City!
Aurora FC 2 0 – 2
Sioux Falls City 0 1 – 1