RSL's Jordan Allen to undergo season-ending microfracture knee surgery

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Real Salt Lake has been dealt its first significant injury blow of 2014.

Youngster Jordan Allen, a promising and versatile 19-year-old rookie from RSL's Arizona-based Academy is expected to miss the remainder of the 2014 Major League Soccer season with a knee injury. Allen will undergo season-ending microfracture knee surgery Thursday and Dr. Andrew Cooper will perfrorm the surgery, per an RSL team spokesman. How exactly Allen suffered the injury which will require microfracture surgery remains up in the air. RSL GM Garth Lagerwey said Tuesday it may have been while Allen was away with the U.S. U-20s at the Dallas Cup in late April when he suffered an injury in the Dallas Cup final against Argentinean club River Plate. Allen left that game in the 35th minute on April 20. On April 23, Allen told me the injury picked up in Dallas was a hamstring issue, so it's unclear yet where and how Allen's knee brought his 2014 campaign to a very premature end.

"I came out of the game before I felt anything go, it was more just a precautionary thing," Allen said on April 23. "Couple more days and I should be fine."

Since then, Allen's ability to train with the first team has been erratic due to injury.

It will be a tough season to digest for the rookie, who impressed RSL's training staff in preseason and saw time as a substitution twice earlier this season in RSL's first two matches of the 2014. When Allen came on as RSL's final sub at San Jose on March 15, he picked up an ankle injury when he was tackled from behind. That kept him off his feet for a while before returning to training and being in form to jet off with the U-20s, along with teammate Benji Lopez to help lead the U.S. to the Dallas Cup final.

Hard to believe the highly-touted RSL Academy product saw time in just two games in 2014. Envisioned as a player who could see time defensively, in the midfield or even up top in his rookie campaign, Allen saw a total of nine minutes in RSL's first two matches. Allen signed a Homegrown contract with RSL on Dec. 31, 2013, after helping the University of Virginia to the NCAA College Cup semifinals last fall.

Now the Rochester, N.Y., kid faces a long road to get back to where he was.

"I went all of 2013 without missing a game," he said on April 23.

damn this is tough

-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani