Two days after Racing Louisville midfielder Savannah DeMelo collapsed on the pitch against the Seattle Reign, the two sides were back at Lumen Field on Tuesday night to finish the game. This time, behind closed doors, the Reign won 1-0 thanks to a late stoppage time goal from midfielder Jess Fishlock. While the clock read well beyond the 90th minute, the two teams had played less than an hour.
The match, which was suspended at halftime Sunday shortly after medical staff tended to DeMelo, resumed from the second half at 5 p.m. local time with the score still 0-0.
Both sides took the pitch wearing purple wristbands in support of DeMelo.
“We knew we wanted to do something regardless, and then Lu Barnes, Seattle’s captain, reached out … to ask if we’d be comfortable having them join us,” Racing forward Janine Sonis told reporters after the match. “The most important thing was making sure Savannah felt supported and knew this game was being played in her honor. We miss her a lot.”
The midfielder, who was diagnosed with Graves’ disease and hyperthyroidism last year, remains under care at a local hospital and has undergone testing to determine what triggered her medical emergency.
“I’m lucky to have my family with me while I’m waiting for test results to come back,” she said in a statement Monday. “I’m extremely thankful to our whole medical staff for the quick response. They’ve been with me every step of the way. The support from everyone has truly meant the world to me, and I’m excited to cheer on the girls this week.”
The 27-year-old is in stable condition and accompanied by her mother, according to Racing head coach Bev Yanez, who spoke after the match.
“At the end of the day, what we do is not who we are. Our jobs do not define us,” Yanez said. “Today was: Let’s do whatever we can for Sav. I think it’s really important to acknowledge that. Not only have the emotions been very high, because football has become so secondary, third, fourth, fifth, it’s just dropped so far down when something like that occurs, and obviously the emotion that goes with that.”
DeMelo’s incident came nearly five months after Angel City FC defender Savy King collapsed during a game against the Utah Royals due to a rare congenital heart condition, which was diagnosed after the incident. Play continued shortly after King was taken to the hospital, a decision that drew sharp criticism for the league.
DeMelo previously left a match in March against Bay FC, citing chest tightness and dizziness to the referee. Yanez explained that Sunday, an emergency plan was in full swing. Once a doctor said DeMelo was in stable condition in the ambulance, the parties agreed not to continue play.
“There was a lot of emotion in that moment, no words, just trying to be there for each other,” Yanev said. “Still, both clubs and the league were aligned immediately; the right thing to do was not to continue. Everyone was supportive. At that moment, football became irrelevant. Tactics, game plans, all of it disappeared; it was only about Savannah and what was best for her, for the players, for everyone. We knew quickly there would be no game.”
On Tuesday, Fishlock, who scored the match-winner, reflected on the previous 48 hours.
“It’s been a really weird couple of days,” she said. “We didn’t know that we were playing today until yesterday. And then obviously, only playing 45 minutes is also very different. So you just have to go in with kind of the same game plan.”
Seattle (8-6-6) claimed all 3 points and jumped to No. 6 in the league standings, but Louisville (7-5-8) remains in the playoff hunt, holding on to the eighth and final spot. Despite a clear focus to finish the season strong, DeMelo remains on the team’s mind.
“We know what she’s going through, but we also know that she would want us to continue to compete and try to get a playoff spot,” Louisville defender Ellie Jean said. “As much as we are supporting her, we also need to remember we have a job, and she would also want us to do that.
“She knows how important this sport is to all of us, and how important we want to make Louisville proud, and how important playoffs are for this team. That’s kind of what we’re talking about at the moment.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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