Austin FC's injury-hit backline suffered another blow Thursday, with the club announcing that Slovenian defender Zan Kolmanic will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee.
The 23-year-old left back, who's started all six of the Verde & Black's league games in 2023, suffered the injury in training.
In total, Kolmanic has six assists in 57 regular-season appearances (41 starts) since joining Austin as a U22 Initiative signing ahead of their inaugural 2021 campaign.
Kolmanic would theoretically be replaced by Jon Gallagher, last year's starting LB who transitioned to the right flank in 2023 and is the club's top scorer this season with three goals, to go along with one assist. Adam Lundqvist, Nick Lima and Héctor Jiménez are other possible options at fullback.
Injuries piling up
The 2022 Western Conference finalists have been without starting center back Julio Cascante to injury, and have relied on offseason signing Leo Väisänen and midfielder Alex Ring to fill the void. They also await the debut of Aleksandar Radovanović, who’s on loan from Belgian top-flight side KV Kortrijk.
The club have until April 24 (end of the Primary Transfer Window) should they want to seek additional reinforcements before the Secondary Transfer Window begins July 5.
Austin, who sit in ninth place in the Western Conference standings with a 2W-3L-1D record, host Vancouver Whitecaps FC Saturday (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass) at Q2 Stadium in Matchday 8.
