Nashville Soccer Club Kicks off Five-Match Homestand with Thrilling Late Match Winner

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 23, 2021) – Nashville Soccer Club returned to Nissan Stadium for the first time since May 23 to secure a 3-2 come from behind win against Eastern Conference foe Toronto FC to improve its record to 3W-1L-5D and 14 points.

Magnificent Maher: Nashville SC’s first ever MLS SuperDraft selection Jack Maher scored his first professional career goal in his 2021 season debut tonight. The 62nd minute goal came off of a well-placed corner from Hany Mukhtar to level the match. Maher was recently on loan with San Diego Loyal SC where he appeared in five games, starting and playing in all 90 minutes and helping to lead the Loyal to a 3W-0L-2D record in that stretch.

Holy Haakenson: Luke Haakenson came off the bench as a 59th minute substitute to secure his first two professional goals. Haakenson’s first career goal came in the 83rd minute of the match to level the score off a CJ Sapong redirect in the box. Haakenson would ensure Nashville SC of three points in front of a home crowd in extra-time after a Dan Lovitz through-ball set up a perfect opportunity for the game-winner.

Home Cookin’: With the win tonight, Nashville SC improved its home record this season to 3W-0L-3D and now owns a six-match unbeaten streak in all competitions dating back to last season where Nashville SC earned a 3-0 home victory over Inter Miami CF in the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. Nashville SC’s overall MLS home record is 7W-2L-8D in all competitions. 

Nashville SC continues its five-match homestand this Saturday when the Boys in Gold face off against CF Montréal at 7:30 p.m. CT. Limited tickets for Saturday’s match are available at NashvilleSC.com/Tickets.

Match Timeline

TOR 26’ – Auro sends in a cross to the back post for Jonathan Osorio to tap in a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the net

NSH 62’ – Hany Mukhtar delivers a ball off of a corner kick, finding Jack Maher in the middle of the box who slots in the attempt to bottom right side of the goal with a right-footed shot

TOR 81’ – Patrick Mullins sent in a header on the left side of the six-yard box to the center of the goal, the assist came off of a Michael Bradley corner

NSH 83’ – Luke Haakenson corrals a headed pass from CJ Sapong to take a right-footed shot at the center of the box, sending it low into the bottom right of the goal

NSH 90’+ 2 – Luke Haakenson secures his brace in extra-time of the match off of a Dan Lovitz through-ball, hitting a shot in the bottom left corner of the box for the game-winning goal

Notes

• Nashville SC are now 8W-3L-3D when playing on a weekday all-time
• Nashville SC earned its fourth come from behind result this season
• Nashville SC is now 5W-0L-0D when scoring three or more goals in a match in its MLS history
• With three goals, Nashville SC scored more than two goals for the first time in 2021
• Nashville SC held Toronto FC to their lowest number of duels won in a game this season (31)
• Nashville SC had four players in the game finish with 90%+ passing accuracy
• Nashville SC is undefeated when playing under a full moon, 1W-0L-2D
• Gary Smith improves his Nissan Stadium home record to 7W-2L-8D
• Alex Muyl exited the game with 15 total passes with a 93.3% passing accuracy
• Anibal Godoy led all players in total both touches and passes with 98 and 87, respectively
• Randall Leal continues to lead MLS in shots on target after adding two more tonight, bringing his season total to 18
• Dan Lovitz assisted the game-winning goal in extra-time, he is now tied with Anibal Godoy with three assists

BOX SCORE

Nashville SC 3W-1L-5D vs. Toronto FC 1W-6L-2D

June 23, 2021 — Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tenn.

Final Score

NSH: 3

TOR: 2                    

Scoring Summary

TOR: Jonathan Osorio (Auro) 26’

NSH: Jack Maher (Hany Mukhtar) 62’

TOR: Patrick Mullins (Michael Bradley) 81’

NSH: Luke Haakenson (CJ Sapong) 83’

NSH: Luke Haakenson (Daniel Lovitz) 90’+

Discipline

TOR: Eriq Zavaleta (Caution) 3’

NSH: Anibal Godoy (Caution) 32’

NSH: Alex Muyl (Caution) 42’

TOR: Auro (Caution) 53’

TOR: Bradley (Caution) 68’

NSH: Luke Haakenson (Caution) 90’+

Lineups

NSH: Joe Willis; Daniel Lovitz, Dave Romney, Jack Maher, Alistair Johnston; Dax McCarty (C), Hany Mukhtar, Alex Muyl (Luke Haakenson 59’), Randall Leal (Rodrigo Piñeiro 81’), Aníbal Godoy; CJ Sapong

Unused Substitutes: Brian Meredith, Jalil Anibaba, Dylan Nealis, Taylor Washington, Matt LaGrassa, Handwalla Bwana, Abu Danladi

TOTAL SHOTS: 15 (Mukhtar, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 11 (Haakenson, 3); FOULS: 17 (Muyl, 4); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 2; POSSESSION: 58.2%

TOR: Quentin Westberg; Eriq Zavaleta, Chris Mavinga, Kemar Michael Lawrence, Auro Jr. (Tsubasa Endoh 90’); Michael Bradley, Marky Delgado; Jonathan Osorio (Justin Morrow 59’), Alejandro Pozuelo (Noble Okello 45’), Richie Laryea; Ayo Akinola (Patrick Mullins 79’) 

Unused Substitutes: Alexander Bono, Omar Gonzalez, Ralph Priso, Jacob Shaffelburg, Dom Dwyer\

TOTAL SHOTS: 9; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 12; OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 8; POSSESSION: 41.8%

Referee: Ramy Touchan

AR1: Andrew Bigelow

AR2: Ian Mckay

4th: Elton Garcia

VAR: Alejandro Mariscal

AVAR: Jonathan Johnson

Weather: Clear, 80 degrees. 

Statistics are unofficial.