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SANDY — When Chris Schuler felt some knee pain during warm-ups before Real Salt Lake's recent home match against Vancouver, the stalwart center back was forced into a late scratch.
After more evaluation, he'll be forced to miss even more time.
Schuler had knee surgery by team physician Dr. Andrew Cooper on Monday night to replace a torn meniscus, after the 27-year-old defender was pulled from the starting lineup prior to last Saturday's 1-0 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
The stalwart 2010 MLS SuperDraft third-round selection is expected to miss 4-6 weeks, including at least Saturday's match at New England and home matches against San Jose and Los Angeles.
"I'm pleased to say that Chris' surgery went very well," Cooper said in a statement. "He and I have worked through injuries over the years. He's tough, and I think he'll fight through this and do very well and be playing fairly soon."
Schuler underwent surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus in his right knee after he felt pain during warmups prior to last week's match. The center back was replaced by Elias Vasquez, who would be the only central defender to finish the match after Jamison Olave picked up a pair of yellow cards in the first 88 minutes of the loss.
"It's something that we have to deal with," RSL coach Jeff Cassar said after Tuesday's training session. "Our heart goes out to Chris, but I know he's going to do everything to get back on the field as quickly as possible."
RSL (2-1-3) will play at the New England Revolution on Saturday, with kickoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. MT. Vasquez and Aaron Maund are the only eligible central defenders on RSL's roster ahead of the match, though the team could recall rookie Phanuel Kavita from the USL affiliate Monarchs to provide cover for that game.
Defender Justen Glad, who has experience at center back and several other spots for RSL and the Monarchs, received a call-up Monday to join the U.S. U-18 National Team for a nine-day camp in Bosnia. RSL teammate and fellow homegrown talent Sebastian Saucedo was also added to head coach Javier Perez's 20-man training camp roster. Both players trained with RSL on Tuesday before departing for camp.
The U-18 national team will play friendly matches against club side Siroki Brijeg and Bosnia's U-18 team during the camp, and should be released following the final match April 30.
RSL-Arizona Academy product Brooks Lennon, a forward who most recently played for the University of Virginia but is expected to sign with England's Liverpool FC, also received a camp invitation.
RSL will also miss utility player Jordan Allen, who is in camp with the U.S. U-20 National Team in Austria, and teammates Luis Gil and Boyd Okwuonu were called into the U.S. U-23 training camp in preparation of qualification for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
