Angel City defender Savy King is “responsive” and with family in hospital after “a medical event on the field” during her side’s NWSL game against Utah Royals on Friday night.
King, 20, went down around 74 minutes into the match at the BMO Stadium, Los Angeles. She received medical attention on the field before being taken off on a cart and then transported by emergency medical services to hospital.
After the game, Angel City and Utah players and staff gathered in a circle on the field with heads bowed. Utah defender Alex Loera, who played with King at Bay FC in 2024, appeared to lead the group in a prayer.
Eleri Earnshaw, Angel City’s senior assistant who was leading the team due to the suspension of interim head coach Sam Laity, gave an update on King in her post-game news conference.
“She was transported to hospital, she was evaluated,” Earnshaw said. “She is responsive and her family are with her, as are our medical staff. She’s in good hands.”
Savy King Update: Savy was transported by EMS to the hospital following a medical event on the field. She is responsive and undergoing further evaluation. We thank everyone for their concern and support.
— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) May 10, 2025
On the two teams gathering after the full-time whistle, Earnshaw added: “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.
“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.”
Earnshaw also praised Angel City defender Megan Reid, who previously trained as an emergency medical technician.
“I just gave a shoutout in our locker room to Meg Reid, (who) as you know, is a trained paramedic,” Earnshaw said. “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.”
Both Angel City and Utah Royals came together for Savy King, who exited Friday night’s match on a stretcher following a medical event on the field.
Alex Loera, who was teammates with King at Bay FC, led the group. pic.twitter.com/cJC3fJymZu
— espnW (@espnW) May 10, 2025
The game resumed on 85 minutes, with 12 minutes of stoppage time played. Press, on as a substitute, had opened the scoring in the 66th minute before Alyssa Thompson added a second in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
Utah head coach Jimmy Coenraets suggested that the match should not have continued after Reid went down.
“In those moments, I’m not sure if we should have continued the game,” Coenrates told reporters. “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.”
An NWSL rulebook from last year states that “NWSL recognizes that emergencies may arise which make the start or progression of a game inadvisable or dangerous for participants and spectators. Certain event categories automatically trigger the league office into an evaluation of whether delay or postponement is necessary, including … serious incident, injury or fatality to a player, coach, official, team representative or spectator or other medical concern.” The rules add that no game should be postponed without permission from the league office, unless one is required by law enforcement. The Athletic has contacted NWSL for comment on whether the league was consulted on the decision to continue the game and who made that call.
King joined Angel City in the postseason from Bay FC and has started all eight of the team’s NWSL matches in 2025. She has also played for the United States Under-19s and Under-20s.
(Photo: Jessica Alcheh-Imagn Images)