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As Angel City FC defender Savy King begins her recovery following last night’s on-field collapse during a 2-0 win over the Utah Royals, the focus remains on why the remainder of the match was played.The NWSL confirmed on Saturday in a statement that King left the field in stable condition after a concerning medical event, has remained in stable condition, and will continue to be evaluated. The league also addressed the continuation of the match
“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,” the NWSL statement said.
League protocols don’t always mix with public sentiment, however.
“Prayers for Savy King as well as her loved ones and the players that were on the field,” Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman posted to her Instagram story in a text post. “In no world should that game have continued…”
King went down in the 74th minute in Angel City’s home match against the Royals at BMO Stadium. She received medical attention on the field. She was taken off the field via a cart, then transported by emergency medical services to a hospital. The team declined to comment on which hospital King was taken to protect her privacy at this time.
Following the match, Angel City provided an update that the 20-year-old was responsive and undergoing further medical evaluation.
As of Saturday morning, both the league and Angel City have still only defined what happened as a “medical event,” and not provided any further clarification if it was cardiac in nature. Regardless, during the lengthy pause on the field while King was receiving medical treatment, players from both teams were clearly shaken and emotional.
The 2025 competition rules, which are publicly available on the league’s website, include a protocol over the delay, postponement or cancellation of NWSL games that allows the league to step in and evaluate the situation — whether that’s prior to the start of a match, or the “progression” of one. This evaluation should automatically be triggered by a number of possible events, including “serious incident, injury or fatality to a player, coach, official, team representative or spectator or other medical concern.”
Based on the same competition rules, with King going down in the second half, if the league had chosen to not complete the game that night, it would have been deemed an incomplete game per policy. A game only counts if 75 minutes, excluding stoppage time, are played. The policy states that if a game is suspended prior to that mark, “due to inclement weather or extenuating circumstances,” it will resume at a date and time agreed to by both teams.
What do the NWSL’s internal policies say about a delay of this nature?
The NWSL’s operations manual, which is available only to teams and other league officials and not posted publicly, provides more insight into what should happen if a medical event takes place during a match. has reviewed the 2025 manual, which does grant blanket powers to the league to review any emergency and adjust the policies as they deem fit. Commissioner Jessica Berman has the final say over all league representatives, teams and any other stakeholders concerning delays or postponements of matches.
The internal operations manual deems any delay greater than five minutes as a “significant delay,” and King’s medical event on Friday night would qualify under this parameter with play not resuming until the 85th minute (between 10 and 11 minutes of delay). Any significant delay gets escalated to a league-designated representative.
Finally, the most relevant section concerns a serious injury to a player, coach, official, or team representative, with the examples of paralysis, seizure, or heart attack provided. The manual states that “every effort” should be made to finish the game once the injured person is safely removed. Once again, the home team is in charge of contacting the league and keeping them informed. The league may provide the home team with direction for next steps, if necessary.
Every incident in this provision should be treated on a case-by-case basis according to the manual, but once again, the final decision falls to the league.
Who made the decision after King’s collapse?
After the incident, league medical staff and league representatives made the call to keep playing in line with league protocols, according to multiple people familiar with Friday night’s events that spoke to . Angel City medical staff remained with King as she was transported via cart into the tunnel and then to an ambulance.
The NWSL provides their own league observer and a medical observer for matches. The medical observer is usually tasked with ensuring compliance with NWSL standards around medical care. It is unclear if either one of these observers had a role in Friday night’s decision-making process.
Based on multiple conversations with people familiar with the handling of the medical event and the subsequent decision making, King leaving the field in stable condition was a leading factor in finishing the match following the delay. Twelve minutes of stoppage time were added following the end of regulation.
sent a request for comment to the Professional Referee Organization regarding who communicated the plan to restart the game to night’s official Alexandra Billeter. As of now, they have not responded to this request.
Were coaches and players consulted?
As it stands, no policy — internal or public — calls for consultation with players concerning the postponement or cancellation of a match. Per the operations manual, in the case of significant delays, the NWSL representative should consult with the officials, venue staff and participating teams. The language does not specify who represents the two participating teams, whether it is coaches or front office staff, or possibly both, so it may be a team-by-team or case-by-case determination.
Acting head coach Eleri Earnshaw said that Angel City defender Megan Reid helped keep the team as calm as possible in the moment, as Reid is also a trained paramedic.
“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,” Earnshaw said in her postgame press conference. “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.”
Forward Christen Press, who scored the game-winning goal for Angel City shortly before King’s medical event, participated in a brief postgame interview with CBS. “I think this game has been very emotional, very tough. All of us are praying for Savy, our teammate,” she said. “That’s really all I can think about right now. It was a really emotional game.”
In Utah’s postgame press conference, Royals head coach Jimmy Coenraets suggested that the match should not have finished.
“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.”
What has happened in previous medical incidents in men’s and women’s sports?
In the NWSL, there have been other major stoppages due to major injuries or for player health reasons. None have prompted the suspension of a match. In March, Racing Louisville’s Savannah DeMelo was transported to a local hospital with Racing’s medical director after experiencing light headedness during the game. The team reported that she remained awake and alert through that particular medical event.
There have been other concerning injuries with extensive delays, ranging from Ali Krieger being stretchered off after a head-to-head collision in 2015 while playing for the Washington Spirit which resulted in a mild concussion to then Houston Dash player Rachel Daly collapsing from heat exhaustion during the final minute of a match in 2017. Both were also treated and evaluated at local hospitals after their respective medical events.
On-field collapses have cast a shadow over a handful of recent sporting events across leagues and continents. During a Monday Night football game in January 2023, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field after making a tackle against the Cincinnati Bengals wide reciever Tee Higgins, prompting the NFL to suspend the game immediately.
After Damar Hamlin’s collapse, the NFL overhauled its emergency protocols. Now, every game kicks off with a “90-minute meeting” where medical teams and emergency responders coordinate on roles, review protocols and double-check equipment in the event of on-field emergencies. This meeting is layered on top of an existing 60-minute medical briefing with referees and key staff to make sure everyone is ready if disaster strikes.
Later that year, Luton Town’s captain Tom Lockyer collapsed from a cardiac arrest in the 59th minute of a Premier League match against Bournemouth, which was also halted. The decision to abandon the match was made collectively between the match officials, players, managers from both clubs and the Premier League, according to a statement from the league.
In Italy, Serie A matches were twice abandoned in 2024: Fiorentina’s clash against Inter Milan was abandoned in December 2024, after their midfielder Edoardo Bove lost consciousness and few months later, Roma’s game against Udinese was stopped when defender Evan Ndicka collapsed and was taken to hospital for further tests. The Athletic reported that the game was suspended after Roma’s coach Daniele De Rossi checked on Ndicka’s condition and consulted with the referee Luca Parietto.
However, in April 2024, Arsenal midfielder Frida Maanum collapsed during WSL’s Continental Cup final against Chelsea FC in April of 2024, but play resumed just seven minutes later.
Who is Savy King?
King is in her first season with Angel City, following a trade from Bay FC during the offseason. Bay FC drafted her second overall in the 2024 NWSL draft out of the University of North Carolina, and went on to appear in 18 matches for the Northern California team.
She requested the move to Angel City due in part to her Santa Monica ties. The LA team later extended her contract through 2028. She’s been a consistent starter, mostly at center back this season.
She’s also had an extensive career with the U.S. youth national teams, first appearing at the Under-15 level, then representing the U.S. at the 2022 Under-17 World Cup and the 2024 Under-20 World Cup. King was part of that bronze medal-winning team, the U.S.’s best finish since 2012.
While she has yet to make her full senior team debut under USWNT head coach Emma Hayes, it seems it’s only a matter of time. She featured at this offseason’s Futures Cap, and got a training spot nod at SheBelieves Cup earlier this year.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Women's national team, Angel City, Utah Royals FC, Soccer, NWSL, UK Women's Football
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