Columbus Crew defender Will Sands to miss rest of season with torn ACL
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Columbus Crew defender Will Sands to miss rest of season with torn ACL
Apr 1, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, United States; Columbus Crew defender Will Sands (30) drives up the side of the field while defended by Real Salt Lake defender Luis Rivera (25) during the second half of the MLS soccer game between Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake at Lower.com Field on Saturday night. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Scheller-The Columbus Dispatch
Bailey Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch·The Columbus Dispatch
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3 min read
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Crew defenderWill Sandswill miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL in his left knee, the Crew announced Tuesday morning.
Sands suffered the injuryearly in the Crew's game at Charlotte FCon Saturday. In the seventh minute, as Sands and Charlotte wingerKamil Jozwiakchased down a long ball, Jozwiak knocked Sands to the ground. The contact didn't look egregious — Jozwiak was whistled for a foul on the play, and not issued a yellow card — but Sands injured his knee in the process and immediately grabbed for his left leg as he fell.
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After several minutes of attention from the Crew's athletic trainers, Sands was taken off the field on a stretcher. Crew coach Wilfried Nancy's somber tone after the game made it clear that Sands had suffered a significant injury.
"We don't know exactly, but this is not good," Nancy said. "It's not good. For the moment, I don't want to talk, because I didn't meet the medical staff, but this is not good."
Mar 25, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Crew forward Jacen Russell-Rowe (19) celebrates with Columbus Crew defender Will Sands (30) after scoring a goal against Atlanta United during the second half of their MLS game at Lower.com Stadium.
Sands, 22, was Nancy's first choice at left wingback. He started the season opener at Philadelphia before being substituted off at halftime with back spasms, which caused him to miss the next two games. Sands returned to the starting lineup March 18 and started each of the Crew's next six games.
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"It is disappointing to lose Will for the year as a club and especially for him personally, as he was truly coming into form on the pitch early in the season," Crew president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said in a statement. "He has always attacked his preparation with great drive and positive energy, and we know he will carry that same mindset into his recovery process."
TheCrew signed Sandsin January 2022 after three seasons at Georgetown, where he played primarily as a winger. With the Crew last year, Sands converted to play left back and made 12 appearances for a total of 639 minutes, includingfive starts in place of Pedro Santoswhen Santos was out with a hamstring injury.
With Sands' experience as both a winger and a fullback, he was a natural fit for the wingback role in Nancy's formation, which places a large amount of responsibility, both offensively and defensively, on the wingbacks. Sands displayed the work rate required to cover the amount of ground Nancy demands his wingbacks cover, while also using his ability on the ball to beat defenders one-on-one and regularly combining with the Crew's attacking midfielders to advance the ball into the final third.
In the aftermath of Sands' injury, the Crewacquired defender Malte Amundsenfrom New York City FC on Monday to fill the gap left on the roster at the wingback position. Amundsen fell out of favor with NYCFC coach Nick Cushing this season, but he made 59 appearances with 37 starts for the club across the 2021 and 2022 seasons, including NYCFC's playoff run to win MLS Cup in 2021.
