The Houston Dynamo announced Tuesday that starting goalkeeper Tally Hall will miss the remainder of the MLS season with a torn ACL in his right knee, suffered during the team’s win over Sporting Kansas City last Friday night.
Hall will undergo surgery on the knee on Friday in Houston. After four straight seasons as the Dynamo’s No. 1 option in goal, Hall will give way to 26-year-old backup Tyler Deric, who replaced Hall in the 80th minute in Kansas City last week.
Hall said told MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday that he knew something was wrong after he fell to the ground in the Dynamo penalty box while trying to clear a Kansas City chance, even though he tried to complete the game.
“I go down and it’s kind of funny because the first thing I do is hold my knee and I’m thinking ‘Try to move it, try to stand on it’ which isn’t recommended by any doctor,” Hall told MLSsoccer.com. “Brad [Davis] was there and he said, ‘Stay down.’ I looked at him and said, ‘It could be serious’ and he said ‘That’s why you should stay down.’
“You’re in the game and you want to do everything to stay in the game and keep fighting,” Hall added. “I went to plant off it and go forward, and my knee felt like it had enough.”
A two-time MLS All-Star selection in 2011 and 2013, Hall started all but two regular season games for Houston since the start of the 2011 season. He said doctors told him his rehabilitation would take between 6-9 months, but he would not commit to a personal timetable.
“I’ve never had an injury like this before so I don’t know,” he said about his recovery time. “I don’t want to miss any games; I don’t want to miss a game this weekend. I don’t want to miss a game next year but I want to be smart about it and come back fitter and stronger than I was before.”
Deric, meanwhile, has appeared in five league matches since he was signed as the club’s first Homegrown player in 2009. His last start came in Houston’s 2-0 loss to Kansas City on June 6, and he’s 2-2-0 in four career starts for the club.
“Tyler’s put in a lot of time,” Hall said. “I worked really hard to be in front of him because I knew as soon as he gets his chance he’s going to take it and run with it.”
Hall is the third Dynamo player to suffer a season-ending ACL injury in 2014, joining midfielder Tony Cascio and forward Mark Sherrod.
“I think I’m going to recover from this and be back to normal,” Hall said. “I’m not too down about my injury, I’m just bummed because I think the Houston Dynamo is going to be playing a soccer game in December. I’m excited about what the team can do, and that hasn’t gone away because of an injury.”
The Dynamo return to action at home on Saturday against the Montreal Impact.
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
