SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake MF John Stertzer underwent successful surgery to repair a dislocated right shoulder on Thursday in Salt Lake City. The surgery was performed by team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Andrew Cooper at Salt Lake Regional Hospital. Stertzer will miss four to six months.
Stertzer dislocated his shoulder in the first half of the RSL Reserves 3-2 loss at the Chivas USA Reserves on May 20. Real Salt Lake DF Rich Balchan suffered the same injury to his opposite shoulder last month. He underwent surgery to repair the injury on May 16.
The 12th overall pick in this year’s MLS SuperDraft, Stertzer appeared in two regular season games off the bench prior to suffering his injury. The University of Maryland product saw a good deal of action with the Claret-and-Cobalt Reserves prior to getting hurt, notching an assist and playing 397 minutes in six Reserve League appearances, five of which were starts.
Real Salt Lake will return to MLS action on Saturday, when it will wrap up a busy week with a home match against West rival San Jose Earthquakes at 7:30 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium.
