Sophia Wilson's suspension for pulling an opposing player's hair in an NWSL game has been extended one game, according to multiple reports.
The Portland Thorns and USWNT star was given a red card in the 22nd minute of a match against the Boston Legacy on Saturday, Oct. 3. She pulled the hair of Laís Araújo and referee Calin Radosav immediately booked her. The automatic punishment for a red card is that a player is ejected and sits out the next game. It was the second red card of Wilson's career.
Per ESPN, the league has extended the punishment to two games when, upon further review, the penalty was upgraded to a "Major Game Misconduct." Wilson will miss the match against Bay FC on Sunday, Oct. 18 and the game against the North Carolina Courage
on Friday, Oct. 23.
USA TODAY reached out to the league and had not heard back at the time of publication.
Thorns coach Robert Vilahamn addressed the play after the 4-2 loss, which dimmed the Thorns' chances of hosting a playoff match.
“I spoke to (Wilson) and I think their player was pulling her shirt and then she tried to pull back and obviously reached her hair,” he said.
“The rule is tough but that’s the rule. All credit for them, they got Sophia out of the moment in that situation and she apologized afterwards and takes accountability and she’ll learn from this.”
Wilson is third in the NWSL with 13 goals. She reports to the USWNT this weekend for two friendlies. The first is on Saturday, Oct. 10 and the second is Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Contributing: Seth Vertelney
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sophia Wilson's suspension for pulling opponent's hair extended
