Nashville SC Falls To Philadelphia In Conference Semifinal Penalty Shootout

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Photo: Courtesy of Nashville SC/MLS

After a historic season in only its second year of existence, Nashville Soccer Club was knocked out of the MLS Cup Playoffs after losing to Philadelphia Union in a penalty shootout.

This was the second consecutive year that Nashville fell in the conference semifinals of the MLS Playoffs.

“I’m going to be honest and say it’s a crushing blow to lose in that manner,” said head coach Gary Smith. “The game played out as many of us had expected, very competitive. But quite honestly, I felt as though we carved out and created enough what we would [call] ‘off-chance moments.’ But on the day, we were unable to find the right craft or quality to win the game inside the 120 minutes.”

After a physical and high-energy match, the game ended with a score of 1-1. MLS MVP finalist Hany Mukhtar scored NSC’s only goal at the 38th minute. In extra time, neither team proved triumphant, which lead to a penalty shootout.

Nashville failed to score on any of the four penalty shots taken, while Philadelphia scored two out of the three shots they took.

“Cruel way to go out for sure,” said Walker Zimmerman in the postgame press conference. “Locker room, as you can imagine, is pretty quiet, pretty disappointed. I think that’s just because we know we have a really good team. We know we had a really good opportunity to move on.”

The club finished its final season at Nissan Stadium with a first round playoff win against Orlando on Nov. 23. The team will now be moving to its new home at the Nashville Fairgrounds.

This upcoming season will be different for the club and its fans as Nashville will move to the Western Conference after playing its first two seasons in the Eastern Conference. The upcoming MLS season will also be starting earlier on Feb. 26, meaning next season isn’t too far off.

“Our plan is to have a decent night’s sleep tonight and hopefully come in on Tuesday with a clearer mind, if not still a little bit of disappointment, but a little clearer,” said Smith. “There are some conversations to be had and we’ll make sure that everyone’s ready and prepared to finish up the season, say some last few words, and get some good rest. Because the next season will be right around the corner in six weeks.”

Steven Boero
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