The Washington Spirit announced that their rookie forward Arielle Ship will miss the remainder of the 2017 National Women's Soccer League season aftering suffering an ACL tear in her right knee.

The injury occured in the Spirit's game last weekend against the Chicago Red Stars. Ship started the match and played 67 minutes before being involved in a collision along the sideline. She was then stretchered off the field.

On the injury, head coach Jim Gabarra stated, “Injuries are always awful, especially ones that are generated by contact. I felt like that was Ari’s best game of the season so far, so it’s really disappointing and sad that she’ll miss the rest of the season. We’ll provide her with the support and quality medical resources to get her back as strong as ever.

Ship (center) keeping the ball for the Spirit. | Source: Washington Spirit

The University of California - Berkeley graduate was originally drafted by the Seattle Reign in the 2017 NWSL College Draft before being traded to the Washington Spirit not too long after. In her first professional season, she appeared in 14 games for the Spirit logging a total of 688 minutes for the club. She scored her first professional goal on August 4 on the road against Sky Blue FC. On top of the goal, she recorded an assist as well which earned her the NWSL Player of the Week honors for Week 15.

The Washington Spirit continue their 2017 NWSL season tomorrow when they face the North Carolina Courage at Maureen Hendricks Soccer Field. Kickoff is schedule for 7:30 pm Eastern Time and will be streamed on the go90 app and through the NWSL website. They will be back on the road on Saturday when they take on the Portland Thorns on Saturday, September 2nd for the NWSL's Lifetime Game of the Week. Kickoff will be at 3:30 pm Eastern Time and aired on the Lifetime channel.

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