90min
·18 September 2022
90min
·18 September 2022
Tobin Heath will miss the remainder of the NWSL season after undergoing knee surgery last week.
OL Reign placed the player on the season-ending injury list, and announced her recovery timeline is expected to extend beyond the 2022 campaign.
“Although this wasn’t an easy decision, we know this was the right decision,” OL Reign coach Laura Harvey said. “We always want to be mindful of our athletes and their health, so we wanted to be sure that Tobin will have the proper time needed to fully prepare for a successful return on the pitch.
"Despite missing time this season, Tobin has helped our younger players tremendously with her veteran mindset and experience.”
The player provided an update after the procedure, posting a photo to social media with the caption 'no one said it would be easy'.
The news comes after Heath missed the last two OL Reign matches. Since joining the NWSL team in June, the U.S. women’s national team figure has made just five appearances and managed one goal.
She previously featured for the Portland Thorns from 2013 to 2019, briefly joining England’s Arsenal and Manchester in 2020, where she also struggled with injuries, before eventually returning to the American League in 2022.
Internationally, she’s a staple for the USWNT, earning 181 caps and scoring 36 goals in her career. She also formed part of the 2015 and 2019 Women's World Cup winning squads and earned Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012 with the American team.