Minnesota Aurora FC: Fox 9 goes 1-on-1 with forward Maya Hansen

All it took was an email from Nicole Lukic to the women’s soccer coach at South Dakota State about a year ago, and Maya Hansen would become an integral piece of the inaugural season for Minnesota Aurora FC.

Hansen, a former Burnsville standout, played in 14 of 15 matches last season and more than 840 minutes for Minnesota Aurora, finishing tied for third on the team with four goals. Hansen and the Aurora won 13 games in their inaugural season, making a run to the USL-W title game.

Fox 9’s Jeff Wald caught up with Hansen earlier this week at Minnesota Aurora FC’s media day at TCO Stadium to look back on last year, and look ahead to what might come in 2023. If you can’t make it to a game this summer, Minnesota Aurora’s home matches will air on Fox 9 Plus!

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE BACK FOR YOUR SECOND YEAR WITH AURORA?

It’s so exciting. I think everyone was just thrilled to be back with each other and kind of build off last year. Just get together, get used to everybody, see how everybody plays together and just put faces to names.

HOW DID IT COME TOGETHER FOR YOU TO JOIN MINNESOTA AURORA LAST SEASON?

Nicole (Lukic) had actually reached out to my college coach and he was like hey this girl emailed me, she is interested about this new team. That was just kind of my first hearing of Aurora. That’s kind of how the pieces came together. Then I met with her, and the rest is history. Just found a place.

COULD YOU EVER HAVE IMAGINED LAST YEAR GOING LIKE IT DID?

I think it was kind of interesting because there were no real expectations. We didn’t really know what to expect, so the season last year definitely exceeded my expectations and we’re really excited to get playing and build on that, and hopefully bring home a trophy because there’s some unfinished business.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE ONE OF THE VETERAN LEADERS BACK?

It’s exciting. I think it’s really cool because we have a lot of natural-born leaders who all lead in their own way and whose leadership styles are different. I think a lot of different people complement each other, but it’s exciting just to have new faces and new people to show around.

WHAT’S YOUR TAKEAWAY FROM 2 DAYS OF TRAINING?

It’s exciting. Obviously we have a lot of high-level players, and it’s just so exciting to see everyone play and see their playing styles. It just makes me super excited to get to our first game.

WHAT DOES HAVING 17 PLAYERS BACK FROM LAST YEAR DO FOR THE TEAM?

It’s really important because especially personally, I feel like I’m a very relational player. So having those relationships from last year, being able to build those on the field and off the field is huge. Just like team chemistry and stuff like that, so we’re really working on integrating those new players and making sure that we have the tightest-knit group that we can.

AFTER LAST YEAR, WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO SHOW THE NEW PLAYERS THE STANDARD?

We’ve talked a lot about not being complacent and building on last year. Everyone is very competitive and wants to play their best soccer and wants to show up, wants to do what’s best for the team and really just play their best, so there’s really no pushing them to play to a certain standard. Everyone is kind of on the same page and just wants to play well.

HOW ABOUT THE FULL CROWDS LAST YEAR AND NOW HAVE A TV AUDIENCE?

It’s exciting to hear about that partnership and allow some family that’s further away to be able to watch. I could’ve never imagined that, seeing the numbers and hearing them announce it, it’s just crazy. It’s special having my friends and family here to watch too.

HOW DOES MINNESOTA AURORA FC MOVE YOUR SOCCER CAREER FORWARD?

It’s nice to play with a lot of high-level players. They’re just improving my game as much as I’m improving their game. Especially last year, I went into my college season as fit as I’ve ever been. It’s really just preparing me for the next step and just being the best player I can be.