Gotham FC’s repeat title bid has experienced its first major setback.
Star forward Midge Purce tore her ACL in Sunday’s win in Portland, the team announced Wednesday, and will undergo season-ending surgery.
Purce, 28, has been with Gotham since 2021, through its lowest days in the NWSL basement and its rebirth as the 2023 champions and a 2024 superteam loaded with star free agents.
She scored four goals in the 2023 regular season and assisted on both goals in the team’s 2-1 upset win in the final.
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The Harvard grad also has made 30 appearances for the United States women’s national team, which is preparing for the Paris Olympics this summer.
“I’m heartbroken to no longer be available for my season with Gotham FC or for Olympic selection with the USWNT — know I’m rooting for you both all year long,” Purce wrote on social media.
“Though you may not see it, I’ll be doing everything I can to get back on the field.”
Gotham FC Midge Purce receives medical attention during an NWSL game on March 24, 2024. USA TODAY Sports Purce first went down in pain in the 13th minute Sunday when her left knee buckled trying to avoid a tackle.
After an on-field examination and brief spell on the sideline, she re-entered. Then she crumbled awkwardly in first-half stoppage time and immediately indicated for a substitute.
Now, she will be sidelined until 2025.
“It’s a reality I’m still struggling with and has left me with not too much to say,” Purce wrote. “What I can say is, I am so blessed. Since my last game, so many friends, teammates and even players I’ve only ever competed against, took the time to extend their support, concern and love. Your messages have meant so much to me throughout this process, you have consoled what, for a moment, felt inconsolable.”
Midge Purce plays for Gotham FC against the Portland Thorns on March 24, 2024. Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports The backdrop for her injury — part of an epidemic of torn knees in women’s soccer — is Purce’s participation with the USWNT in the Gold Cup in the late February and March.
The regional tournament involved six high-intensity games in three weeks at a time when NWSL-based players are in their preseason.
Gotham’s Lynn Williams and Rose Lavelle have missed both of the team’s games due to injuries they sustained in the Gold Cup.
Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós was alarmed about what the scheduling meant for player safety.
“We are paying the consequences of a tournament that shouldn’t have happened,” Amorós said Sunday. “Another player playing in the Gold Cup [right before the start of the season], and 10 days later, she’s injured.”
Gotham, which lost the Challenge Cup before winning its regular-season opener, returns to action Saturday night on the road against the North Carolina Courage.
