MINNEAPOLIS — One of the best players on the pre-professional Minnesota Aurora FC is now a true professional soccer player after she signed with a Portuguese team.
Minnesota announced Sunday that forward Morgan Turner signed with Sport Clube União Torreense in Portugal's top professional women's soccer league for their upcoming season. Her first professional soccer game with her new team will be on Aug. 28.
The Campeonato Nacional Feminino, or Liga BPI, is a 16-team professional women's soccer league in Portugal and was founded in 1993. SCU Torreense, which fields both men's and women's teams, was founded in 1917 in Torres Vedras, which is just north of Lisbon.
Turner, who is from Maple Grove, Minn., was Aurora's top scorer with six goals and 12 total points scored, while only playing in eight games during the regular season.
SCU Torreense tweeted Sunday, "The North American forward arrives to reinforce the Impassable Line's attack!"
Turner said in Minnesota's announcement she's ready to play professionally after playing in the pre-professional USL W League. Players in the W League were not paid so they could keep their "amateur" status for colleges and high schools.
“Playing for Aurora this summer prepared me to play professionally. I competed at a high level in practice every day with my teammates and we played against strong teams in our division and in playoffs," she said in a tweet.
The Minnesota Aurora FC's president and co-founder, Andrea Yoch, took to Twitter to congratulate Turner.
"One of the goals of Minnesota Aurora was to get young women to the next level on and off the field," Yoch tweeted, adding that they're proud of Turner being "the first of what will be many success stories."
In their announcement, Turner's new team touted her 31 career goals at DePaul University, which ranks fourth all-time for the Blue Demons.
Details of Turner's contract were not released by either SCU Torreense or Minnesota Aurora FC.
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