Columbus Crew loses young emerging star in defender Will Sands for season with torn ACL injury

Will Sands Crew defending against ball vs. New England 4 15 2023 (courtesy Columbus Crew Communications)

The Columbus Crew announced Tuesday morning that defender Will Sands will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL in his left knee.

Sands suffered the injury early in Saturday night’s game, a loss at Charlotte FC. Happened in the seventh minute, as Sands and Charlotte winger Kamil Jozwiak were going for a long ball. Jozwiak knocked Sands to the ground. The contact didn’t look too bad at first, but Jozwiak was whistled for a foul on the play, and not issued a yellow card, However, Sands injured his knee in the process and grabbed for his left leg as he fell to the ground in obviously immense pain.

The 22-year-old Sands was coming into his own this year as new head coach Wilfried Nancy showed great confidence in one of the former stars from the MLS Next Pro defending champion Crew 2.