Angel City defender Savy King is reported to be “responsive” and is currently undergoing additional medical care in a hospital following her collapse during the team`s 2-0 victory over Utah Royals on Friday.
King collapsed in the 74th minute of the match. She received medical attention on the field for approximately 10 minutes before being replaced by Megan Reid. She was then transported to a local hospital for more detailed examination.
In a statement released Friday, Angel City confirmed, “Savy was transported by EMS to the hospital following a medical event on the field. She is responsive and undergoing further evaluation. We thank everyone for their concern and support.”
The NWSL issued a follow-up statement Saturday, confirming that King was still being evaluated and indicating the league might review its policies regarding such incidents.
The NWSL statement read:
“Following a medical event on the field last night, ACFC`s Savy King was transported by EMS to the hospital. Savy left the field in stable condition and currently remains stable, undergoing further evaluation. League protocols were followed from both a medical and game operations perspective. We are grateful to the Angel City medical staff as well as to local paramedics who handled this difficult situation seamlessly. As always, the NWSL will review and determine if changes to that protocol need to be made. We share everyone`s concern about Savy, and our thoughts are with her, her family, the Utah Royals players and staff, and the Angel City players, staff and community.”
The NWSL`s decision to continue the game after King`s 84th-minute substitution drew criticism, despite being within league rules and common practice in the sport. The NWSL`s 2025 rules do permit postponement or cancellation in the event of a “serious incident, injury or fatality… or other medical concern.” Among those who questioned the decision was Royals head coach Jimmy Coenraets, who felt the match should have stopped.
“In those moments, I`m not sure if we should have continued the game,” Coenraets commented post-match. “You`re emotionally – not only them, but also our players were just scared. That`s not the right situation to be in, but in the end, we played on. That`s the decision other people have taken, which is fine. It was a really tough moment. It`s the same after the game. Like, what do you want to focus on after the game? Yes, you have the result of the game, but you want to make sure people feel safe, healthy, and good, and I think that was the focus after the game for us.”
Trinity Rodman, the U.S. women`s national team player for Washington Spirit, echoed this feeling on her Instagram Stories Saturday.
Rodman wrote:
“Prayers for [King] as well as her loved ones and the players that were on that field. In no world should that game have continued…”
Scary Situation
Eleni Earnshaw, Angel City`s assistant coach who was filling in as head coach, confirmed that the club`s medical team and King`s family members were with her at the hospital. Earnshaw praised the responsiveness of King`s teammates during the incident.
“I just gave a shoutout in our locker room to Meg Reid, who, as you know, is a trained paramedic,” Earnshaw said in her post-match conference. “While Christen [Press] and her teammates were instrumental in getting the group together and making contact and just being with one another, Meg saw out of the corner of her eye that they were starting to move Savy onto a stretcher and reiterated to the group that that was a really good sign. She just stepped into paramedic mode and helped calm the group, which was massive. It was still scary, you still don`t know how the team`s going to respond after that. My ask was that we were together, we stayed communicative throughout the rest of the game, keep each other concentrated and that we give our energy to Savy.”
After the match concluded, players from both Angel City and Utah Royals formed a circle at midfield. The gathering was led by the Royals` Alex Lorea, a former teammate of King`s at Bay FC.
Earnshaw explained the post-match gathering:
“It was one of the Utah players that suggested it, that we get together. Some people prayed, some people shared their energy. Just to show unity in that moment in support of Savy without knowing the update at that time. It was obviously a scary situation to be in and, at that point, it was much bigger than football. Really grateful to the Utah player that did that, I can`t remember off the top of my head who it was but really grateful for it.”
As of now, specific details on King`s current condition or her potential return date are not available.
