Spirit’s Rodman (back injury) out vs. Angel City

Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman did not travel with the team to Los Angeles on Wednesday after sustaining a back injury last week, coach Jonatan Giráldez said in a prematch news conference.

Giráldez said it is “not a big injury” for Rodman, but he does not have a timeline for her return.

The second-place Spirit play Angel City FC on Friday in Los Angeles ahead of an Oct. 6 matchup with unbeaten league leaders Orlando Pride.

“Trin, we checked her after the game, she [had pain] in her back,” Giráldez told reporters on Thursday from Los Angeles. “After checking everything, the results have been good. This type of pain, you have to take care, so I thought the best for her and for the team was to stay in Washington to be 100 [percent] recovered without pain and ready to help us because we know that right now, we cannot commit any mistakes [with player management].”

Spirit defender Casey Krueger also did not make the trip due to an adductor injury, which Giráldez similarly qualified as minor but did not provide a timeline for return.

Rodman left Friday’s game in a wheelchair in the final minutes of a 3-0 loss to the Kansas City Current.

She returned to the bench before the final whistle and appeared to have an ice pack on her back.

Rodman’s agent, Mike Senkowski, told the Washington Post on Saturday that Rodman had an “intense back spasm.”

Back issues have lingered for Rodman since her rookie year in 2021, when she helped the Spirit win its first NWSL Championship as a teenage rookie.

This year, Rodman has eight goals and six assists, making her the co-leading scorer of the Spirit and one of the top performers in the NWSL.

She has also thrived with the United States women’s national team.

Rodman is the only player to have appeared in every USWNT game since the start of 2023.

She scored three goals at the 2024 Olympics, including the extra-time winner in the quarterfinal victory over Japan, to help the Americans win the gold medal.