RICHFIELD, Minnesota — Minnesota Thunder has joined the Women’s Premier Soccer League as an expansion club for the 2020 season, the league announced Saturday.

The club, which originates as an academy program, will play its home matches at the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minnesota.

Danny Storlien will serve as the club’s first WPSL coach. He has coached at the Minnesota Thunder Academy for more than 18 years and holds an USSF A License.

“The Minnesota Thunder Academy organization is excited about joining the WPSL,” Storlien said. “Our goal has always been to provide female players the opportunity to develop as soccer players and young women in an environment that provides high-level training and challenging competition.”

The club will play in the Central Region’s North Conference against fellow Minneapolis-St. Paul based clubs Salvo SC, Fire 98 SC and Maplebrook Fury. It will also play matches against Mankato United Soccer Club, Rochester United FC and Dakota Fusion FC.

With the addition of the Thunder, each corner of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro will have a WPSL club representing it, exemplifying it as one of the strongest women’s soccer markets in the United States.

For more information about the WPSL, visit wpslsoccer.com.

The WPSL is in its 23rd season and is the largest women’s soccer league in the world with more than 130 clubs from coast-to-coast. WPSL rosters feature elite collegiate, post-collegiate, international and standout prep student-athletes. Many of the United States’ most accomplished women’s players have played in the WPSL, including household names such as Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain.

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