Carli Lloyd will miss 3-6 weeks with an MCL sprain.
The injury occurred early in the Dash’s 3-1 loss at Orlando on Saturday night at the Citrus Bowl. Lloyd moved in to challenge an outlet pass by Laura Alleway and wound up blocking the ball with her foot in a vulnerable position.
“She blocked it and she didn’t have her ankle locked and it sort of hit her ankle out, Alleway said before correctly predicting, “I’m guessing by the way it hit her it could have something to do with her medial (the M in MCL).”
Lloyd, who was already tweeting positively on Saturday night, released a statement through the Dash: “I would like to thank everyone for their well wishes. Obviously, I’m very disappointed with the injury. I was feeling great and starting to get comfortable with my Dash teammates. The timing is not great but I’m confident that I will come back in peak condition. Rehab starts tomorrow and you’ll see me on the field soon.”
The Dash brought Kealia Ohai off the bench to replace Lloyd on Saturday and are far better equipped to handle this type of injury than in years past. They were also preparing to spend some time without Lloyd for national team responsibilities.
