Angel City defender Savy King, who collapsed during game, has heart surgery
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Angel City defender Savy King, who was carted off the field at BMO Stadium after collapsing in the 74th minute of the team’s game with Utah last week, underwent successful surgery to repair a heart abnormality Tuesday, the team said.
King received emergency care at California Hospital Medical Center after leaving the field Friday and was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Saturday, where doctors detected the heart issue.
“Her prognosis is excellent,” the team said in a statement.
King’s family issued a statement of its own.
“Our entire family, along with Savy, have been so moved by the love and support from Angel City players, staff, fans and community, as well as soccer fans across the country,” it read. “We are blessed to share that Savy is recovering well and we are looking forward to having her home with us soon.”
After King went down without contact late in Angel City’s 2-0 win, medical staff performed chest compressions before lifting the player, who was wearing an oxygen mask, onto a cart and taking her to a waiting ambulance. The game was delayed for about 16 minutes before resuming, although players on both teams and from around the league argued that it never should have resumed.
The defender collapsed on the field and medical staff appeared to do chest compressions on her during a 2-0 win over Utah. She is in stable condition.
“I’m not sure if we should have continued the game,” Utah coach Jimmy Coenraets told reporters. “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.”
After the game, Utah’s Alex Loera gathered players from both teams into a prayer circle to pray for King.
“Prayers for Savy King as well as her loved ones and the players that were on that field,” USWNT star Trinity Rodman wrote on Instagram. “In no world should that game have continued.”
According to National Women’s Soccer League rules, situations that could allow a match to be halted or postponed include a “serious incident, injury or fatality to a player, coach, official, team representative or spectator or other medical concern.”
It took more than 12 hours for the NWSL, which was reportedly in charge of the decision to restart the game, to release a statement saying its protocols had been followed. King, the statement said, had suffered a “medical event” and was in stable condition. Neither Angel City nor the league offered any updates until late Tuesday night.
King, 20, who ran track and played flag football and soccer at Agoura High School, played one season at North Carolina before entering the 2024 NWSL draft, going second overall to Bay FC. After making 18 appearances as a rookie, she was traded home to Angel City, at her request, in February.
King had started all eight matches for Angel City (4-2-2) this season.
