Portland Thorns forward Hayley Raso will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks with a non-displaced fracture of the transverse processes of L2, L3 and L4, suffered in Saturday’s 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit. This timeline has Raso missing not only Portland’s regular-season finale against Seattle Reign FC, which will determine which of those two teams takes second place and hosts a semifinal, but also that semifinal itself and the final, should the Thorns advance. Portland is currently in third place and has secured their playoff spot.
In 12 appearances in 2018, the Aussie has scored two goals and added two assists. Her 2018 debut was delayed by a knee injury sustained during the Asian Cup in April, helping Australia qualify for the 2019 World Cup.
This was the second of two knee injuries suffered by Raso since she won the 2017 NWSL Championship with the Thorns, missing time in Australia’s W-League last season after hurting her knee with the Brisbane Roar. Despite that, she scored four goals for the Roar during the 2017-18 season, leading them to the W-League Premiership, their equivalent of the NWSL Shield. Although Raso has not yet announced plans for the 2018-19 the W-League season, this injury will likely delay her debut there as well, if she intends to return.
The news comes on the same day that U.S. Soccer revealed Megan Rapinoe will miss the pair of upcoming friendlies against Chile due to a rib injury. Rapinoe missed Seattle’s 1-1 draw with the North Carolina Courage on Saturday due to the injury. Her timetable for return has not been announced. Utah Royals FC forward Amy Rodriguez replaced Rapinoe on the 23-player roster.
