Olivia Moultrie Out for Season With Torn ACL

A knee giving out on an otherwise ordinary training day can change everything. That's exactly what happened to Olivia Moultrie, the Portland Thorns midfielder who injured her right knee during a training session last week and will now have to say goodbye to the rest of the season.

The NWSL club confirmed on Tuesday that Moultrie suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and was placed on the season-ending injury list. The news lands hard for a player who had been putting together a strong campaign, with five goals and five assists for the Thorns.

Moultrie, 20, didn't hide her pain and put it in writing on social media. The words she chose show just how much it stings to be sidelined right as she was hitting her stride.

Heartbroken doesn't even begin to sum up everything I'm feeling right now. Being pulled away from something you love more than anything is a feeling I never wanted to experience. I know there's a reason this path was chosen for me, and I can't promise everything, but I can promise I'll come back and I'll be better.Olivia Moultrie

Moultrie's story in professional soccer has always carried an unconventional origin. In 2021 she signed with Portland after winning a lawsuit against the NWSL itself, which at the time had a rule barring clubs from signing players under 18. That move didn't just open the door for her, it ended up changing the rules for an entire generation of young players in the league.

Since then, her career has kept climbing. She went on to make her debut with the United States national team, where she has 18 caps and five goals, and in 2023 she won U.S. Soccer's Young Female Player of the Year award. That steady rise makes this injury sting even more, coming right as her name was starting to carry real weight in conversations about international duty.

And that might be the toughest blow of all: it's highly likely that Moultrie will miss the Concacaf W Championship, the tournament that hands out spots for next summer's Women's World Cup. It's a tournament that now looks like a lost opportunity for a player who, at just 20, had already earned a place in the conversation about the national team's future.

From the Thorns' front office, the message was one of full support. Club president and general manager Jeff Agoos pointed to the player's mental toughness as her biggest asset in getting through this process.

Olivia is one of the most driven players I've ever known, and she's going to channel that drive throughout her recovery and rehab. She has our full support and every resource this club can put behind her.Jeff Agoos

Now comes the waiting game. ACL injuries typically mean a long road, months of quiet work in the gym and on the rehab field before returning to the pitch for an official match. Portland loses an important piece in the short term, but everything points to Moultrie facing this setback with the same determination that led her, as a teenager, to take on an entire league and win.