Riding high into the international break.
Nashville SC continued its winning ways on Saturday against Orlando City SC, dominating its conference rival in a high-flying, high-scoring, high-energy 5-0 victory at GEODIS Park. The Boys in Gold controlled the match from start to finish, earning a well-deserved three points that place them solely atop the Eastern Conference standings and joint-first in the Supporters’ Shield race.
Here’s what we learned.
Super Sam is soaring
If you thought Sam Surridge’s 31-goal 2025 season was impressive, you better strap in for 2026. After his hat trick on Saturday, the English striker has seven goals to his name through just four MLS matches, holds three multi-goal games this season and sits squarely atop the Golden Boot race — by far the most impressive start of any attacker in the league.
The numbers are otherworldly. But the most impressive part of his campaign has been the well-roundedness of his game, diversity of his finishing and awareness of his positioning. All these traits took center stage in his hat trick against Orlando — the fourth in his MLS career, good for third in the all-time ledger.
The final two of his three goals exhibited Surridge’s lethal instinct perfectly. The first of those was trademark from the No. 9: finding space in the box to pounce on a ricochet, before one-timing it into the far corner with his left foot, leaving the goalkeeper stranded.
The second, however, was a work of art. Surridge noticed a marauding run from Cristian Espinoza down the right wing and veered to the left side of the box, utilizing the selfless run of Hany Mukhtar to find space. He then swept the outside of his boot against the ball, cannoning it into the right side-netting.
Individual accolades always come secondary to team achievements in soccer. But we saw in 2025 that Nashville goes where Surridge does, and with a striker on the top of his game, that could be very, very far.
Deputizing in defense
The attacking spectacle Nashville put on Saturday should not mask what was also an excellent evening from its defense. Maxwell Woledzi, Jeisson Palacios and Andy Najar — each returning from midweek starts against Inter Miami in the Concacaf Champions Cup — stood prototypically tall and contributed to a dominant press that forced Orlando behind the ball for most of the game. Brian Schwake made it 14 consecutive undefeated matches as a starter, secured a clean sheet and made a series of composed close-range stops.
But the star of the show could well be considered the dynamic, if not understated, Reed Baker-Whiting at left-back. The 20-year-old American was handed the start for the Boys in Gold on Saturday, his first since joining the club from Seattle Sounders this offseason. His large frame, strength and willingness to bomb forward fit perfectly into Nashville’s system and created a nightmarish evening for the Lions, punctuating an encouraging start to life in Music City in which he has seemed a more than capable successor to longtime stalwart Dan Lovitz. The youngster has yet to concede a goal while on the pitch, nearly opened the scoring with a pinpoint header in the first leg against Miami and accumulating 0.48 expected goals against Orlando — the precise sort of effect one wants from an elite full-back.
Baker-Whiting will undoubtedly get more minutes as Nashville chases three trophies, faces regular double-matchweeks and squares off against elite foes across North America. And his showing on Saturday indicates he’s more than up to the task.
The hype is real
How about this for an early season resume:
No club in the Eastern Conference has scored more goals than the Boys in Gold and only two in MLS have conceded fewer. Nashville is one of just three undefeated teams across the league. It just sent the reigning MLS Cup champions packing in the quarterfinals of North America’s premier intracontinental competition and dismantled one of its toughest historical rivals by five goals, dominating possession and nearly every offensive statistic on the way.
Nashville has stepped up to every possible plate this season. It has battled and beat great teams, handled tough matches with composure and looked spectacular along the way. There’s still plenty of season to go, but from what we’ve seen so far, the main takeaway about Nashville should be this: it’s one of the best teams in MLS. And you’d be a fool to argue otherwise.
More matchday honors
As if a 5-0 win wasn’t enough, the Boys in Gold also saw multiple among their ranks earn spots in the MLS Team of the Matchday. Surridge headlined the starting XI with his hat trick, supported by Espinoza on the right wing. That duo combined for four of Nashville’s goals on Saturday, including an early goal of the season contender from the Argentine.
Head coach B.J. Callaghan earned Coach of the Week honors as well.
This week is the fourth time this season that a Boy in Gold (or multiple) has featured in an MLS Team of the Matchday, with Warren Madrigal, Patrick Yazbek and Woledzi previously earning spots.
NEXT HOME MATCH
Nashville SC vs Club América
Tuesday, April 7 at GEODIS Park | 7 p.m.
Nashville SC faces Club América in Leg 1 of the Concacaf Champions Cup Quarterfinals
