Nashville Soccer Club Falls 2-0 at Columbus Crew

Columbus, Ohio (June 24, 2023) – Nashville Soccer Club (10W-5L-5D, 35 pts.) fell to Columbus Crew (9W-6L-4D, 31 pts.) at Lower.com Field in Columbus on Saturday, marking the first time the Boys in Gold have lost consecutive road matches this season. 

Missing In Action: Nashville SC competed without four regular starters, including three goal-scorers as Teal Bunbury was unable to play due to a hamstring injury while Aníbal Godoy (Panama), Fafà Picault (Haiti), and Jacob Shaffelburg (Canada) missed the match due to international duty ahead of the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup Group Stage.

Second All-Time In League History: With his 90 minutes played tonight, Nashville SC midfielder Dax McCarty surpassed Chad Marshall (35,843) for the second most in MLS history by an outfield player. McCarty has registered 35,890 minutes in his MLS career.

Johnny Cash Kit Alert: Nashville SC wore its secondary jersey, the Man in Black Kit, for the fifth time this season, third on the road. 

Back To The Castle: Nashville SC will return to GEODIS Park on Saturday, July 1 to take on D.C. United at 7:30 p.m. CT on MLS Season Pass in the Apple TV app. The Boys in Gold own a 7W-1L-2D record this season at GEODIS Park and have not lost a match in Music City since March 25. 

Match Timeline:

CLB 20’: Lucas Zelarayán finds Christian Ramírez through the middle of the field approaching the box, and Ramírez fires off a shot for a goal   

CLB: 90+5’: With pressure on the left side, Joe Willis comes off his line and a shot across the box is deflected off of Jack Maher and in the net for an own goal

Notes:

• Nashville SC:              
  • is 2W-3L-2D against Columbus Crew in series history  
  • recorded its first loss against Columbus Crew since November 2020 in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Semifinals 
  • has only lost four road matches in 2023 (3W-4L-3D)
• Tah Brian Anunga recorded his first start of the season, 10^th overall for Nashville SC 
• Luke Haakenson recorded his second start of the season, 10^th overall for Nashville SC 
• Lukas MacNaughton played for the first time since June 10, 2023 at Toronto FC
• Jack Maher led the defense with four tackles, two tackles won and five clearances, including two goal line clearances 
• Walker Zimmerman 
  • wore the captain’s armband for the first time since June 3, 2023 at FC Dallas
  • led the team with 48 accurate passes 

Box Score:       

Nashville SC (10W-5L-5D, 35 pts.) vs. Columbus Crew (9W-6L-4D, 31 pts.)     

June 24, 2023 – Lower.com Field 

Final Score      
NSH: 0
CLB: 2
    
Scoring Summary      

CLB: Christian Ramírez (A: Lucas Zelarayán) 20’ 

CLB: Jack Maher (Own Goal) 90+5’

Discipline      

CLB: Steven Moreira (Caution) 59’ 

NSH: Hany Mukhtar (Caution) 61’ 

Lineups:    
NSH Starters: Joe Willis; Dan Lovitz (Taylor Washington 79’), Lukas MacNaughton (Shaq Moore 64’), Jack Maher, Walker Zimmerman (C); Dax McCarty, Randall Leal (Sean Davis 79’), Hany Mukhtar, Alex Muyl, Luke Haakenson (Ethan Zubak 64’), Tah Brian Anunga (Ján Greguš 85’)

Substitutes: Laurence Wyke, Josh Bauer, Elliot Panicco

CLB Starters: Patrick Schulte; Yaw Yeboah, Malte Amundsen, Mohamed Farsi, Steven Moreira; Darlington Nagbe (C), Lucas Zelarayan, Alexandru Matan (Max Arftsen 90’), Sean Zawadzki (Gustavo Vallecilla 84’); Cucho Hernandez, Christian Ramirez (Isaiah Parente 82’) 

Substitutes: Phillip Quinton, Milos Degenek, Luis Diaz, Keegan Hughes, Evan Bush, Jimmy Medranda  

MATCH OFFICIALS:

Referee: Filip Dujic

AR1: Ian Mckay

AR2: Kevin Klinger

4^th Official: Alexandra Billeter

VAR: Alejandro Mariscal

AVAR: Jeff Muschik

Weather: Clear, 80 degrees