Courtesy of Orlando City
Orlando City‘s goalkeeping depth took a hit Sunday morning as the club announced homegrown keeper Mason Stajduhar underwent knee surgery for a left meniscus tear, with an unknown timetable for his recovery.
“Mason has worked incredibly hard to reach this point in his career but if there’s one thing that we know about him, he will come back from this even stronger,” Orlando City SC EVP Luiz Muzzi said in a statemet. “Until that point, we’re happy to be here to support him, provide him with the best environment to rehab and recover, and then work him back into the team when he’s ready.”
“Mason’s surgery went as planned with no further damage to his knee identified at the time of surgery,” Dr. Craig Mintzer said following the procedure. “We expect a full recovery and return to play under the careful guidance of the Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute medical staff and Orlando City training staff.”
The 23-year-old has been the starter for the last month with starter Pedro Gallese out injured, but did not start the last two matches. In those five matches played, the keeper recorded 10 saves and a clean sheet without losing a match, tying the club record for games played to start in goal without losing.
The injury comes just as Stajduar was getting his big break after six years with the club. Signing as a homegrown in 2015, the 17-year-old at the time has been out on loan only twice, once to FC Tulsa of the USL Championship for 17 matches in 2019, and another for Orlando City B in 2020 for just three matches.
Both loans coming just a year after finishing cancer treatment for Ewing’s sarcoma, for which he underwent treatment from 2017 to 2018.
In the interim, Orlando City added former Lions keeper Greg Ranjitsingh from the league’s goalkeeper pool on Friday after Stajduhar was ruled out of the team’s match against Columbus. Gallese will be with Peru for one more of Orlando’s matches, allowing Adam Grinwis to continue to start in his stead.
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