USWNT’s Tierna Davidson out for 2025 NWSL season with ACL tear: What does NJ/NY Gotham FC star’s injury mean?

US Women’s National Team Defender Tierna Davidson suffered a torn ACL in her left knee while competing for NJ/NY Gotham FC in NWSL game on Friday, with a new wrinkle of USWNT head coach Emma Hayes’ plans to expand the player’s pool in the structure of Cup.

Davidson came in the 44th minute of Friday in Houston Dash with a contactless injury in her left knee. She was able to walk away from the field with limited help, but was in tears and received a hug from Gotham’s goalkeeper coach and Davidson’s former teammate Michelle Betos before going straight through the tunnel.

The injury is a big blow to Gotham, who used a strong defense as the basis of their playing style under head coach Juan Carlos Amoros. Davidson started each of Gotham’s three games this season in the middle of the center next to Emily Sonnett, her club and country teammate, although Mandy Freeman was able to play the role after he took place in Davidsons on Friday.

Davidson previously tore her ACL in her right knee in 2022 during a training session with her club at that time, the Chicago stars. She missed the entire NWSL season of 2022 with that injury and returned for the 2023 campaign, but missed the World Cup schedule of the USWNT 2023 before he returned completely to the group after the conclusion of that tournament. She earned a starting role next to Naomi Girma on time for the 2024 Olympic Games, where they won gold.

Uswnt to explore defensive depth

Although an injury in the long term is never ideal, the Davidson injury comes a period of time that Hayes was already using for experiments. The head coach deliberately used the post-Olympics period to expand the player pool and introduce new tactical ideas, something that she will probably do for the rest of 2025.

Spectators will get a taste of Hayes’ new ideas as soon as Saturday, when the USSWNT plays Brazil this month in the first of a two-game series. The head coach is without her starting center of the Olympic Games, where Girma takes care of an injury in the short term that kept her out of this international window. She has a handful of options available for Haar-Sonnett is the lace-up choice of the group, although less experienced choices such as Alana Cook, Tara Mckeown and Emily Sams are also in the camp.

Cook was part of the World Cup team of 2023, but was able to earn her first minutes for the national team since Hayes took over last year, while the others have more recent experiences with the USWNT. Sonnett and McKeown started two of the Three Shelieves Cup matches in the USSWNT in February, while Sams collaborated with Davidson in the other competition. In addition, Sonnett filled in for Davidson during the Olympic Games when he treated a small injury.

Girma and Davidson, who are both still younger than 30 years old in the World Cup 2027, remain the assumed starters for that tournament, except fitness, and at least this period of experiments will enable Hayes to find out who is next in line.

Davidson participates in a long list of experienced USWNT players who will miss a lot of time since the Olympic Games. Only 10 members of the Gold Medal-winning team of Hayes are in the camp this month and the head coach has not been able to work with full groups since they returned from Paris.