The end of the road trip is finally here.
Nashville SC (3W-2L-2D, 11 pts.) wraps up a grueling eight-match road trip on Saturday night with a late showdown with LA Galaxy (4W-2L-1D, 13 pts.). The Boys in Gold will look to add points to the board going into the club’s home opener at the brand-new GEODIS Park next Sunday, May 1.
The team is coming off a 2-2 draw at San Jose Earthquakes, its third consecutive match unbeaten.
Here’s everything you need to know about Saturday night’s clash in Carson:
Date: Saturday, April 23
Time: 9:30 p.m. CT
Location: Dignity Health Sports Park (Carson, Calif.)
TV: MyTV30
Local Stream: NashvilleSC.com/stream
Out-of-market Stream: ESPN+
English Radio: iHeartRadio Online
Spanish Radio: El Jefe 96.7
Click here for list of Pub Partners
Home Stretch – Nashville has made history through the first seven matches of its eight-match road trip.
The team’s 1.57 road points per match through seven matches is the highest of any team in Major League Soccer history to play eight or more road matches to start a season (the most prior was Portland, who had 1.17 road points per match in 12 road matches in 2019).
Head Coach Gary Smith says he is proud of the displays his team has put on during a difficult stretch of away matches.
“Putting 11 points on the board was always going to be a stretch, especially with the opponents and challenges we were going to face,” Smith said. “The hope always was that we would put enough points on the board to be in a competitive world and not put too much pressure on some of these home games that are coming up quickly. I think the players have done an incredible job of bagging the amount that we have. I think they’ve also done an incredible job with the way they’ve conducted themselves, with the way that they’ve performed, and certainly with the displays that we’ve shown on the road.”
Romney’s Return – Defender Dave Romney, who has started all but one regular season match in the club’s MLS history, will face his former club for the first time on Saturday night.
Romney was traded to Nashville from the Galaxy ahead of the 2020 season. He says he’s excited to face the club he made his MLS debut with.
“A lot of family and friends are coming out to the game,” he said. “I’m just excited. I want to do well, and I want to win. I’m looking forward to it.”
Scouting the Galaxy – LA Galaxy has been one of the hottest teams in the Western Conference this season. The team is currently riding a four-match unbeaten run across all competitions, most recently beating USL Championship side San Diego Loyal on Tuesday night in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Its leading scorer is Mexican superstar Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, who is tied for the league lead with five goals in 2022. No other player on the Galaxy has more than one goal.
Romney says the back line will have to keep a keen eye on Chicharito in order to keep him in check.
“He’s just a clinical finisher and he’s very smart with his runs in the box,” Romney said. “His awareness and experience with timing his runs is second-to-none and something I’ve been watching in previous games. He’s just a very smart player and is clinical in front of goal. If you give him any space to score, he’s going to score. We just have to constantly be active mentally and be prepared for any juke he’s going to make.”
