Angel City’s Savy King ‘responsive’ after collapse as players, coaches question NWSL match continuing

Angel City defender Savy King is “responsive” and receiving further medical attention at a hospital after collapsing in the second half of the NWSL team’s 2-0 win over Utah Royals on Friday.

King went down in the 74th minute of the game and received attention from medical professionals on the pitch for about 10 minutes before she was substituted off for Megan Reid. The defender was then taken to a nearby hospital for further examination.

“Savy was transported by EMS to the hospital following a medical event on the field,” Angel City said in a statement on Friday. “She is responsive and undergoing further evaluation. We thank everyone for their concern and support.”

The NWSL issued a follow-up statement on Saturday confirming that King was still undergoing further evaluation and that the league may look into a policy update after the teams returned to play.

“Following a medical event on the field last night, ACFC’s Savy King was transported by EMS to the hospital,” the NWSL wrote. “Savy left the field in stable condition, and currently remains stable and will be 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 faced criticism for the decision to resume the game after King’s 84th-minute substitution, which is not against league rules or unusual across the sport. However, the NWSL’s 2025 competition rules allow for the postponement, delay or cancelation of a game in the case of a “serious incident, injury or fatality to a player, coach, official, team representative or spectator or other medical concern.” The list of critics included Royals head coach Jimmy Coenraets, who said the game should not have resumed.

“In those moments, I’m not sure if we should have continued the game,” Coenraets said after the 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 and Washington Spirit star, shared a similar sentiment on Instagram Stories on Saturday.

“Prayers for [King] as well as her loved ones and the players that were on that field,” Rodman wrote. “In no world should that game have continued…”

‘Scary situation to be in’

Angel City assistant coach Eleni Earnshaw, who was acting as the head coach while interim boss Sam Laity was serving a suspension, also added that the club’s medical staff were with King at the hospital, as were members of the player’s family. Earnshaw also commended King’s teammates for their ability to respond when the player collapsed.

“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 press 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.”

Upon the conclusion of the match, players from both Angel City and the Utah Royals gathered in a circle at midfield. The group was led by the Royals’ Alex Lorea, who played with King at Bay FC last season.

“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,” Earnshaw said. “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.”

There are currently no available specifics on King’s condition or her timeline to return to the pitch.