Como Zoo names baby zebra Aurora after women’s soccer team
Minnesota Aurora FC is so popular that the first-year amateur women’s soccer team now has a baby zebra named after it.
Como Zoo said Wednesday the name Aurora received 50 percent of the in-person vote in a contest over the past week, and that is the name that has been given to the daughter of Minnie. She was born May 24, and the team is planning to visit the foal soon.
The namesake of the nascent club in the USL W League beat out Subira and Izara. The zoo joked: “There will be no recount.”
Aurora birthed from Minnie. That’s seems fitting since the soccer team founded by a small group Minnesotans grew into more than 3,080 shareholders worldwide and has garnered a lot of attention on the field.
The club announced 5,219 fans for their inaugural match at TCO Stadium in Eagan on May 26 and they plan to have 5,000 at both home games there this weekend. Aurora will play Chicago City at 7 p.m. Friday and again at noon Sunday.
Aurora (2-0-1) had a 1-1 draw with Green Bay Glory in its debut game at the Vikings’ stadium. Minnesota then went on the road to beat Kaw Valley out of Kansas 2-0 on June 2 and St. Louis 3-2 on June 5.
