An MRI conducted on Thursday afternoon revealed that Crew midfielder Eddie Gaven suffered a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his left knee during the second half of the Black & Gold's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match against Dayton Dutch Lions FC on Wednesday night. While there is currently no set date for surgery to repair the damage to Gaven's left knee, the stalwart will miss the rest of the 2013 season.
"Eddie's MRI showed that his ACL was completely torn and that he had bruised his bone in a pattern that was consistent with tearing his ACL," Team Physician Dr. Pete Edwards explained. "He didn't have any other obvious meniscal or cartilage injuries, which is good."
Dr. Edwards continued, "It's much better that this appears to be an isolated ACL injury. He needs to get his knee moving and we need to calm down the inflammation over the next week or two. As soon as his knee is ready for surgery, we'll do that in the next one to two weeks. At this stage of the season, this is a season-ending injury."
Gaven played in all 34 matches for the Black & Gold in 2012 to share the team's scoring lead with forward Jairo Arrieta with nine goals. Beginning his professional career at age 16, Gaven also became the youngest player in MLS history to play in 250 League matches (25 years, 257 days) in 2012.
Starting the Crew's 2013 season-opener at Chivas USA, Gaven became the fourth player in club history to play 200 matches for the Black & Gold and he currently leads the team with four assists on the season. The veteran played a crucial role in the Crew's 2-1 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup victory over Dayton, scoring the first goal and assisting on Justin Meram's match-winner before exiting in the 86th-minute following the injury.
