Latsko and Mautz out for 2019 NWSL season with knee injuries

In a double whammy of injury news, both Chicago’s Alyssa Mautz and Houston’s Veronica Latsko are out for the rest of the 2019 NWSL season with ACL injuries.

Chicago announced today that Mautz suffered an ACL tear in her right knee during training on Tuesday this week, while Houston announced that Latsko’s injury was in her left knee, and that it also occurred during training this week. Houston did not specify that it was an ACL, but local Houston writer Hal Kaiser tweeted that this was the case.

While neither player was necessarily a marquee name, both of them were crucial to their respective teams’ depth and probably would have been the kind of steady presences providing stability and continuity on rosters attempting to find some balance during the World Cup. Losing experienced players like Mautz and Latsko at a time when every team needs leadership to help integrate college signings and World Cup replacement players will have definite consequences and will ripple both on and off the field.

If it seems like every season the letters A-C-L crop up in NWSL in the worst way, women do tend to have a greater risk of non-contact ACL injuries according to studies cited by the Women’s Sports Foundation. Types of gear, playing surfaces, and insufficient prevention training can all contribute to ACL injuries.

Best wishes to Latsko and Mautz in their recoveries. Houston will be taking on the Utah Royals this weekend on Saturday, while Chicago will face the North Carolina Courage on Sunday.