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Washington Spirit rookie and United States women’s soccer Olympian Croix Bethune suffered a season-ending knee injury after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Nationals game last week.
The MLB honored four Olympians who had come back to the Washington, D.C. area on Aug. 28 after winning gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics over the summer when the injury seemingly happened.
On Wednesday, the NWSL club announced that Bethune had suffered a torn meniscus “away from training” and wouldn’t play again for the rest of the season.
The talented midfielder had already tied the NWSL rookie single-season record for most assists (10), and she was one of the favorites to win the league’s rookie of the year award.
Bethune did not travel with the Spirit for their match last Sunday against the San Diego Wave, and head coach Jonatan Giráldez first indicated the first pitch had caused an issue after the 1-1 draw.
“She had a problem making the first pitch the other day [at] the baseball game,” Giráldez told reporters, according to Pro Soccer Wire. “We will report about exactly what she has, but she is not going to be available this season. It’s bad, bad news, but in the end, it’s part of life. We have to keep going.”
In 17 games during her rookie campaign, Bethune scored five goals for the Spirit and had reportedly also been in the running as a candidate for the MVP Award.
Bethune was selected third in the 2023 NWSL draft by the Spirit and made one appearance off the bench for the USWNT during their gold medal run at the Olympics.
Trinity Rodman, Casey Krueger and Hal Hershfelt were also honored with Bethune during the game between the Nationals and Yankees.
Bethune’s pitch didn’t connect with the Nationals pitcher DJ Herz, who was catching the throw, and it was hard to tell on a clip from social media where she might have injured herself.
The Spirit have eight games left in the regular season.
