Carli Lloyd suffers apparent knee injury in Houston Dash game at Orlando Pride

After this post was written, Lloyd was diagnosed with a sprained MCL in her right knee. Click here for the new post with full details.

U.S. women's national team captain and Delran native Carli Lloyd suffered what appeared to be some kind of knee injury while playing for the Houston Dash on Saturday at the Orlando Pride.

In just the fifth minute of the game, Lloyd stepped up to block a clearance by Orlando defender Laura Alleway. As Lloyd planted her right foot on the artificial turf at Orlando's Citrus Bowl, she took an awkward hop, fell to the ground and grabbed her knees.

The broadcast crew on the online stream of the game said Lloyd got up under her own power. About a minute after the initial incident, Lloyd was moving around gingerly on the field, but at least she was moving around.

With just over eight minutes gone in the game, the broadcast showed Lloyd on her back on a bench in the Houston sideline area, receiving treatment from trainers on the lower part of her right leg. She was not officially substituted for until the 12th minute.

The Associated Press reported that Lloyd will have a MRI exam on Sunday. I had heard it would happen in Orlando, before the Dash were to return to Houston, but that might not have proven true. On Sunday morning, Lloyd tweeted a picture of her knee with a big ice bag on it, and said she's headed to New Jersey for a speaking engagement at a sports marketing event.

Her longtime trainer, Moorestown-based James Galanis, tweeted during the second half of Saturday's game:

Though many fans and observers feared the worst in the moment, those fears were calmed considerably when Lloyd was seen on the broadcast after the game walking on the field and talking to players on both teams, including Pride star Alex Morgan.

Late Saturday night, Lloyd tweeted a note of reassurance:

Orlando won the game, 3-1, with Morgan scoring once and forcing an own goal by a Houston defender. A crowd of 23,403 was on hand for the Pride's first ever home game, setting a new NWSL single-game attendance record.