When it rains, it pours.
As the Fire were in the middle of getting hammered at home in the team’s first playoff game in five years, 18-year-old midfielder Djordje Mihailovic suffered a nasty injury.
Mihailovic went in for a slide tackle and his right knee got caught under him midway through the second half. Coach Veljko Paunovic opened his postgame press conference by speaking about Mihailovic’s injury.
“It doesn’t look good,” Paunovic said. “Our medical staff suspects a very difficult injury with his right knee.”
Paunovic's fears were confirmed on Thursday when the club announced Mihailovic suffered a ruptured ACL.
Mihailovic, a Fire Academy product, made 17 appearances and seven starts in the regular season totaling 732 minutes. He had a goal and two assists.
“His progress was amazing so far and we were proud of him, but it was encouraging to see a young man who was handling the situation with maturity and who was strong after the game when we saw him in the locker room,” Paunovic said. “He was strong and he was ready to move on and start his recovery as soon as possible. That was amazing to see that attitude from him.”
Mihailovic joins Michael de Leeuw, who was in a brace during Wednesday's playoff game, as a Fire player who recently suffered a ruptured ACL. The injury will likely cost Mihailovic the first two or three months of 2018, if not more.