Final Notes: Nashville SC 1-0 CF Montréal

The march toward the MLS crown continues. 

Nashville SC again was forced to grit its teeth and dig deep to secure a win Wednesday night at GEODIS Park, converting a second-half Sam Surridge penalty into a 1-0 defeat of Eastern Conference foe CF Montréal. The victory keeps the Boys in Gold as the pacesetters of MLS in 2026, handing them 39 points through 16 games, tied with 2023 FC Cincinnati for the best start of any team in 25 years.

Here’s what we learned. 

Leaving it late again 

Be it their 4-1 opening-day defeat of New England, 3-2 triumph against LAFC or 5-0 demolition of Orlando, Nashville has made a habit of winning in style in 2026. Even their narrower victories have been rich in flash, from Hany Mukhtar’s last-minute winner at Columbus to Eddi Tagseth’s stunning first goal for the club in Charlotte. Wednesday’s game, nor the one before it, however, have exhibited the same free-flowing attacking ruthlessness or drama. 

But, as goalkeeper Brian Schwake reminded reporters after Wednesday’s match, three points are three points no matter if the match finishes 1-0 or 8-6. If there’s one thing to take away from Nashville’s pair of hard-fought, at-times ugly last two outings, it’s that this team can find a way through no matter the obstacles in front of it.

No Cristian Espinoza or Warren Madrigal on the wings through injury? Shak Mohammed converts a header worth just 0.09 expected goals to down Atlanta. Surridge making his second start in three months with just two goals in his previous six matches? He earns, then scores, the game-winning penalty against Montreal. A changed back line without MLS All-Star Andy Najar starting either match? They get clean sheets in both matches. 

The Boys in Gold will, of course, want to resume their high-flying ways as the season picks up steam, particularly with home matches against Cincinnati and Miami, as well as Leagues Cup, beckoning in August. But being able to win ugly and win late is just as valuable. Nashville has six points and two goals proving they can. 

Advancing toward history 

The tight nature of Wednesday’s win won’t earn it a place among the most exciting in Nashville’s record books. But those invested in — or even aware of — the club’s milestones will hold it in high esteem for a long, long time. 

The list of club and league-wide achievements Nashville secured against Montreal is frankly astonishing. The team now has five wins on the bounce, its longest-ever streak in MLS, and a 10-game league unbeaten run. It remains the only team yet to lose at home in league play, only dropping two points all season. Its 13th clean sheet of the year in all competitions matches 2021’s club record, but in 12 fewer games. It sits five points clear in both the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield standings. And, most impressively, it is still on pace with the league’s best points total in 25 years. Should it take four points from its next two matches, it would equal LA Galaxy’s tally from 1998, the best in league history, while two wins would cement it as the best MLS team by this point in the season ever.

Each Boy in Gold is playing his part in that success. Tagseth, Matthew Corcoran and Patrick Yazbek — before his injury — have made Nashville’s midfield one of the league’s toughest to plan for with their speed and stamina. We’ve already touched on Mohammed and Surridge, but Mukhtar, Espinoza and Madrigal have provided bundles of creativity across the forward line as Najar spreads the field from right-back. Maxwell Woledzi and Jeisson Palacios have conceded the fewest goals of any MLS center-back pairing, backed by perhaps the league’s premier shot-stopper in Schwake. And, of course, there’s head coach B.J. Callaghan, whose tactics, lineups and substitutions continue to bear fruit. 

Players and coaches insist that every match exists in isolation: win on the day, forget it, then prepare to do it again. But the way Nashville keeps stacking victories should not be moved on from so hastily. The Boys in Gold, having already made ample history, now stand on the precipice of immortality. 

More Schwake magic 

What else can we say about this guy? 

The 24-year-old again came to play on Wednesday against Montreal, securing two vital saves deep into the second half that preserved Nashville’s lead and led to his eighth clean sheet in 16 MLS starts, the first Nashville keeper to ever reach that mark. This comes just five days after holding Atlanta, who logged 1.77 expected goals, scoreless for the second time this season.

Schwake was duly rewarded for this pair of performances — he was the highest-rated Nashville player, per FotMob, in both — with MLS Team of the Matchday honors on Thursday afternoon. Catch him, alongside Surridge, Mukhtar and Najar, for the MLS All-Star game on Wednesday, July 29.

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