The third-year defender tore her ACL and meniscus in last week’s game against Utah.
Seattle Reign FC announced on Friday that defender Ryanne Brown has torn her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus and has been placed on the Season-Ending Injury (SEI) list. Brown was injured near the conclusion of the first half of last Friday’s game against the Utah Royals, when she went down without contact while chasing a ball out of bounds.

Brown will have surgery to begin her recuperation, which can take anywhere between nine months and a year depending on the severity of the damage.

Brown, in her second full season with the Reign, started four games and appeared in ten more across all competitions this year. All of her starts occurred in June and July, as she fought her way up to a starting position. Brown was part of a backline that remedied previous defensive problems, conceding only three goals in the last four games she started.

“We’re heartbroken for Ryanne,” head coach Laura Harvey stated in a team release. “She has always been a player who works hard every day to benefit the squad as much as possible. Ryanne’s on-field performances this year have demonstrated her significant improvement. We will wholeheartedly support her during this journey.”

After the Reign’s Summer Cup victory over Utah, Harvey expressed her dissatisfaction with the fact that the team had to play on Friday but couldn’t begin practicing until Monday due to a seven-day CBA-mandated break.

“The fact that we’ve been asked to play four or five days beyond the mandatory break isn’t the most player health and safety-related thing we’ve ever asked the players to do. Tonight was always going to be challenging. Playing on a Friday following a mandated break outside of a FIFA break is crazy, in my opinion, and sadly, one of our players was injured as a result.”

Reign forward Bethany Balcer had a same attitude on Twitter last week, remarking on the news Sam Staab will miss the rest of the season due to a torn Achilles tendon.