- Sam Surridge nets brace, has three goals in first two matches of 2026
- Newcomer Warren Madrigal records goal and two assists, becomes first player in club history to record multi-point game in MLS debut
- Goalkeeper Brian Schwake earns first career MLS win in first career MLS start, is 7W-0L-0D in all competitions for Nashville SC
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 21, 2026) – Nashville Soccer Club won its MLS regular season opener Saturday night, defeating the New England Revolution 4-1 at GEODIS Park. Forward Sam Surridge recorded a brace, forward Warren Madrigal scored a goal and recorded two assists in his MLS debut, and midfielder Hany Mukhtar found the back of the net. Goalkeeper Brian Schwake earned his first career MLS win in his league debut.
Have no fear...: Forward Sam Surridge, who earlier today signed a contract extension that will keep him in Nashville through the 2027-28 season, scored a brace and has three goals in two matches after tallying a goal in NSC’s Concacaf Champions Cup win over Atlético Ottawa earlier this week. The Englishman set club records for MLS (25) and all competition (31) goals in 2025 and was named a finalist for the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award.
Warren’s (three) piece: Forward Warren Madrigal recorded one goal and two assists, becoming the first player in Nashville SC history to record a multi-point match in his first MLS game and the second player in NSC history to record a goal and a goal contribution of any kind in his league debut (also, Robert Castellanos goal 8/1/21). Madrigal is only the seventh player in league history to record three goal contributions in an MLS debut and the youngest to do so.
Perfectomundo: Goalkeeper Brian Schwake, who earned his first MLS win in his first career MLS start, is the only goalkeeper in club history to win his first seven starts.
Next up: Nashville SC will play the second leg of its Round One Concacaf Champions Cup series versus Atlético Ottawa at GEODIS Park on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. CT. The Boys in Gold lead the home-away series 2-0 on aggregate.
Notes:
Nashville SC:
- is 4W-3L-5D all-time vs. the New England Revolution (MLS, Leagues Cup)
- is 2W-1L-4D all-time in home openers
- is 3W-1L-3D all-time in MLS season openers
Cristian Espinoza made his Nashville SC MLS debut
Warren Madrigal
- scored and recorded his first two career MLS assists in his league debut
- is the first player in Nashville SC history to record an assist and multi-point game in MLS debut
- is the second player to record a goal and goal contribution of any kind in his NSC MLS debut (also, Robert Castellanos goal 8/1/21)
- is the seventh player (and youngest) in MLS history to record three goal contributions in their MLS debut
Hany Mukhtar scored his first goal of the season
Woobens Pacius made his MLS debut
Sam Surridge
- scored his first two MLS goals of the season (three across all comps)
- has seven goals in six career appearances vs. New England
- recorded his 10th career regular season multi-goal game and seventh career regular season brace
- is the fourth active MLS player to record 10 multi-goal games in under 75 matches (72 matches) joining Lionel Messi (40 matches), Denis Bouanga (62 matches) and Hany Mukhtar (74 matches)
- earned Man of the Match honors
Brian Schwake
- made his MLS debut
- remained unbeaten in his career with Nashville SC at 7W-0L-0D
- is the only goalkeeper in Nashville SC history to win his first seven starts
Maxwell Woledzi made his MLS and Nashville SC debut
Box score:
Nashville SC (1W-0L-0D) vs. New England Revolution (0W-1L-0D)
Feb. 21, 2026 – GEODIS Park
Final score:
NSH: 4
NE: 1
Scoring summary:
NSH: Sam Surridge (A: Warren Madrigal) 5’
NSH: Sam Surridge 16’
NSH: Hany Mukhtar (A: Warren Madrigal) 39’
NE: Leo Campana (A: Carles Gil, Tanner Beason) 47’
NSH: Warren Madrigal 49’
Discipline:
NE: Griffin Yow (Caution) 48’
Lineups:
NSH starters: Brian Schwake; Dan Lovitz, Maxwell Woledzi, Jeisson Palacios, Andy Najar (Josh Bauer 72’); Patrick Yazbek (Matthew Corcoran 72’), Eddi Tagseth (Bryan Acosta 90’), Warren Madrigal (Alex Muyl 61’), Hany Mukhtar (C), Cristian Espinoza (Ahmed Qasem 83’); Sam Surridge (Woobens Pacius 82’)
Substitutes: Joe Willis, Jack Maher, Reed Baker-Whiting
NE starters: Matt Turner; Keegan Hughes (Ilay Feingold 82’), Andrew Farrell, Matthew Polster (Alhassan Yusuf 82’), Ethan Kohler, Will Sands (Tanner Beason 45’); Brooklyn Raines, Carles Gil (C), Griffin Yow (Malcolm Fry 68’), Dor Turgeman (Luca Langoni 61’); Leo Campana
Substitutes: Donovan Parisian, Jackson Yueill, Eric Klein, Jayden Da
Match officials:
Referee: Tori Penso
AR1: Kathryn Nesbitt
AR2: Meghan Mullen
4TH: Jon Freemon
VAR: Ramy Touchan
AVAR: Cameron Blanchard
Weather: 42 and cloudy
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