U.S. Soccer has announced the women’s national team roster that will take on China at Allianz Field on May 31, and it includes some of the biggest names in women’s soccer.

And one of those names is a Minnesotan — well, a Minnesotan by marriage, at least.

Read more: USWNT announces roster for May 31 game at Allianz Field

Maybe the Minnesota Aurora’s goal for 2025 is simple: more of the same.

After all, this is still a team that’s never lost a regular-season game in the USL W League. It’s still a team that has averaged more than 5,000 fans a game in Eagan, one that’s still raising money through community ownership — pulling in $850,000 in its latest ownership drive, along with more than 2,000 new owners from around the world.

So you could understand why the Aurora’s fourth season, which opens Thursday at 7 p.m. at TCO Stadium against Rochester FC, might look a lot like the first, second and third.

Read more: Minnesota Aurora have new coach Jen Larrick and a familiar cast

GAME STORY: Minnesota United FC front-liners defeat St. Louis City

Losing to Houston in midweek was bad enough for Eric Ramsay and Minnesota United, after the manager made eight changes to the starting lineup, and his team lost to a struggling team.

It would have been worse if his team hadn’t come back three days later and beaten a different struggling — and less rested — squad.

“I felt like it justified that decision,” Ramsay said after the Loons defeated St. Louis City 3-0 Saturday night at Allianz Field. “I wanted to reserve judgment on how good the decision that was until the end of the day, but I feel like we went all-in on this game and ultimately we got what we certainly deserved but also planned for.”

Read more: Minnesota United’s Eric Ramsay sees roster strategy justified

GAME STORY: Minnesota United loses MLS game to lowly Houston

Minnesota United’s 2-0 loss to Houston on Wednesday night came in the second of four consecutive weeks in which the Loons will play both in the middle of the week and on the weekend.

It’s a schedule that would test any squad, and coach Eric Ramsay’s solution for dealing with it so far is simple: Play two separate teams, one in midweek and one on the weekend.

Read more: Analysis: Minnesota United’s Eric Ramsay plots lineup strategy

BREAKING: MLS hands Minnesota United’s Joseph Rosales a three-game suspension

GAME STORY: Lionel Messi scores in Minnesota United rout of Inter Miami CF

“I mean, it’s just a MLS regular-season game,” said Robin Lod.

“At least top 100, maybe top 50,” said Michael Boxall, asked to rank this win in Minnesota United history.

Postgame, the Loons were pretty quick to play off Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Inter Miami, over Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, over the league’s marquee team, the side that leads every MLS broadcast.

For once, Loons fans should ignore what the team captain and the team’s 2024 All-Star have to say, because for fans it likely meant a whole lot more than that.

Read more: Minnesota United plays it blasé after win over Lionel Messi, Inter Miami

If you know anything about soccer, you know something about Lionel Messi — and Saturday, Messi and Inter Miami are coming to Allianz Field, to take on the Loons.

Inter Miami posted pictures of Messi boarding the team plane on social media Friday, removing fans’ first worry — that the great one wouldn‘t even bother making the trip to Minnesota.

If he’s not the greatest soccer player of all time, he’s at least one of three, maybe four names that are always in the running.

If you don‘t know Messi, though, let me try to explain.

Read more: Lionel Messi and Inter Miami vs. Minnesota United at Allianz Field

GAME STORY: Minnesota United FC takes MLS win over Austin FC

For the first time in 2025, Minnesota United lined up Saturday against Austin in the formation the Loons played for most of 2024 — a 5-2-3.

It wasn’t exactly a tactical decision, since the genesis of the switch was an injury to striker Kelvin Yeboah, who might be the Loons’ best player so far this year. But it seemed to work out just fine, with Minnesota winning 3-0 in Austin.

Read more: Analysis: Minnesota United reacts to Kelvin Yeboah injury

Khaled El-Ahmad, chief soccer officer for Minnesota United, has now been in charge in Blaine for a little more than a year. The Loons travel to Austin on Saturday, with El-Ahmad’s first real winter transfer window behind him, and the CSO’s vision for how he wants the Loons to compete is emerging.

In El-Ahmad’s words, it’s about being a club that will “make smart decisions with the resources that we have.”

Read more: Minnesota United CSO Khaled El-Ahmad builds for now and future in MLS

Minnesota United moved to shore up the right side of its attack on Tuesday, signing right winger Julian Gressel after he was waived by Inter Miami.

Gressel won an MLS Cup with Atlanta in 2018 and again with Columbus in 2023, and started 38 games across all competitions last season for the record-setting Miami team that won last year’s Supporters’ Shield.

Read more: Minnesota United signs Inter Miami castoff Julian Gressel

GAME STORY: Minnesota United loses to Vancouver Whitecaps

Sunday’s game was a chance for Minnesota United to prove it belonged at the top of the Western Conference, alongside the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps, the team that’s leading the MLS standings and has one foot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final.

By the end of the game, it was clear: Vancouver’s second string is good enough to hang with Minnesota, and its first string is good enough to blow the Loons’ doors off.

Read more: Minnesota United finds MLS leader Vancouver is way ahead

CONTROVERSY: Minnesota United wingback Joseph Rosales was at the center of a controversy in second-half stoppage time Sunday after two Vancouver Whitecaps players appeared to accuse Rosales of using some kind of slur.

Read more: Minnesota United’s Joseph Rosales in midst of slur controversy

In terms of picking up points in the standings, you’d have to say that Minnesota United has their problems solved. After a summer stretch in which the Loons lost eight of 11 games last year, Minnesota has now lost just three times in their last 19 regular season games.

As the Loons take on Vancouver Sunday afternoon, defending their current eight-game unbeaten run, they are trying to solve a new problem: how to get all three points for a win, instead of settling for just one for a draw.

Read more: Minnesota United face Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS showdown