The Boys in Gold have found themselves in murky waters after falling 4-3 to Liga MX squad Toluca in the Leagues Cup at GEODIS Park on Thursday (July 27) night.

Nashville started off well with a fast paced offense between the work from Jacob Shaffelburg and Fafa Picault. But it was Walker Zimmerman who headed in a goal in the third minute off of a stellar Dan Lovitz corner kick to give Nashville the lead.

But in the 27th minute, Toluca’s Marcel Ruiz responded with a spectacular goal off of a short cross in front of the net to tie it. From here, it quickly became relevant that Nashville’s defense was under constant pressure from the Mexican club’s quick pace offensive pushes up the pitch.

NSC scored off of a Picault goal in the 37th minute but the moment was shutdown once again in the 41st minute by another Ruiz goal. But it was in first half stoppage time that Nashville SC’s defense really hurt the club when Alex Muyl was called for a handball in the penalty box and Toluca was awarded a penalty and then scored taking a 3-2 lead into halftime.

“I don’t think we can say that everyone’s really right on the button right now,” said head coach Gary Smith on the team’s defense. “That could be fatigue at this stage of the season, we can certainly say that the climate has affected the way the players go about their business for 90 minutes. There’s also choices on when to trap players, some of the communication that goes on, and there’s a lot of breakdowns at the moment.

“They made absolutely the most of it. The first goal that we saw at halftime from the throw-in, through a group as well-versed as this one is, it’s hugely disappointed. I’ve not been involved in too many games with this group where we’ve conceded four goals and we’ve gone in front but lost the game. And we’ve done both in one evening. That’s not a good sign, and there’s an awful lot that we can do to improve that. I’m sure we will.”

Teal Bunbury replaced Muyl at the start of the second half but continued to struggle to put the ball in the net. His inability to score when in position has added to frustration, adding insult to injury, game after game, loss after loss.

In the 61st minute Robert Morales extended Toluca’s lead to 4-2 off of another goal in which Nashville’s defense should have prevented. Here, the frustration became overwhelming and the yellow cards began to fly. Bunbury was carded twice resulting in a red card in the 86th minute.

Luke Haakenson was able to cut the lead to 4-3 in the 70th minute but Toluca’s ball control and ability to stifle any NSC offensive creativity ultimately led to their win.

Nashville currently sits in second place in the group with three points and 0 goal differential. They will go through to the next round as long as Colorado doesn’t defeat Toluca by more than one goal. If Colorado loses, draws or wins in penalties (the winner in penalties is awarded two points) Nashville would go through.

Tie-breakers in the Leagues Cup are determined first by head-to-head then goal differential and then by yellow cards.

The Boys in Gold will have to wait to see if they move when Toluca plays Colorado on Monday, July 31st at 8:30 p.m..

Nashville Soccer Club defeated the Colorado Rapids 2-1 with another stellar performance from Hany Mukhtar.

Mukhtar, coming off his MLS All-Star week, was substituted in during the 57th minute, and scored the opening goal within 60 seconds. In the 65th minute, He showed off his footwork, cutting in from the right flank and laying in a cross to Jacob Shaffelburg who tapped it in, giving Nashville SC a 2-0 lead. Mukhtar scored his 100th and 1o1st goal contribution in MLS with his goal and assist.

“We lost a little bit of continuity in our play in the last four or five games, and it was important that we started somehow to get back on track,” said Head Coach Gary Smith in a postgame press conference. “The first half looked a little bit nervy at times, no lack of energy and competitive edge. Chances that unfortunately were not there for us to complete and put ourselves in front. I think you saw when the three guys came on, and by the way, I thought Jacob [Shaffelburg] was outstanding in that first period, very much involved in an attacking sense. Within his first two touches, Hany made all the difference. I thought the influence of the three guys was a very positive one, and of course to get a two-goal lead put us in a much more confident position.”

The first half had its moments from both Shaffelburg and Teal Bunbury, who has struggled to score over the past month, and was filled with slow movement and lack of inspiration on both sides. However, Shaffelburg proved why he is one of the best young forwards in the league, showcasing his incredible speed and crossing abilities. His work was awarded as scored his first goal for Nashville in nearly three months.

“The goal helped big time,” said Shaffelburg. “I have not scored for Nashville since Atlanta United, so that was a long time ago. It feels nice to score again and kind of get reset I guess. But yeah, I mean, it’s amazing to score and to get back into it. It feels great to get my confidence back. Obviously the Gold Cup goal helped quite a bit with my confidence. So I’ve been feeling really good since then. To get a goal tonight is kind of just to build off it’s amazing, and the win is also really good.”

With the win, the Boys in Gold put themselves in great position to win the group and head to the knockout stage of the League’s Cup. The victory has also boosted Nashville SC’s morale as they’ve had a brutal month losing five of their last six matches.

“I just think it’s very important that we got back in the win column,” said Smith. “Honestly, I’m not sure the performances over the past six games have been that poor. If you look at the way we played against Philadelphia [Union], lots of opportunities, very aggressive, very purposeful, the result wasn’t there. We can look at some of the decisions that were made in the game, but we also have to look internally at ourselves and start to decide what we’re going to be, what we want to be and how we’re going to get there. I thought tonight, we slowly but surely started to turn in that positive direction. The result was very important emotionally for all of the group and puts us on a very positive track and maybe in a position, there’s still work to be done, but try and control this group of three teams and finish top of it and give ourselves a home game in the last 32.”

Nashville SC will host Liga MX club Toluca this Thursday (July 27) at GEODIS Park. The game will be an exciting one as Liga MX clubs tend to bring in tons of passionate Mexican soccer fans. This will be the second time Nashville SC has hosted a Liga MX squad at home. 

Nashville Soccer Club is promoting current Chief of Staff Lindsey Paola to the position of Chief Operating Officer.

Paola will assume her new role on Aug. 1, and will continue to work under Chief Executive Officer & President of Nashville SC and Huntsville City Football Club Ian Ayre.

“In the past five years, Nashville SC has undergone significant evolution and growth, marking milestones with GEODIS Park, our Vanderbilt Health Training Center, our academy and Huntsville City FC in MLS NEXT Pro,” Ayre says. “As we enter our next phase of development, it’s critical to adapt our operational strategies. Lindsey has been instrumental in our journey, constantly enhancing her contributions and role. Her core skills are invaluable and highly complementary to my own. As such, it’s with great pleasure that we appoint her as Chief Operating Officer. With Lindsey assuming daily operational responsibilities, I, as President & CEO of Nashville SC and Huntsville City FC, can dedicate more focus on future growth, which aligns perfectly with our long-term objectives.”

As the new Chief Operating Officer, Paola will take the reins of the day-to-day general business operations at Nashville SC, encompassing operational approvals and human resource matters. She will also play a pivotal role in leading inter-departmental projects and ensuring the development of junior staff members. Additionally, Paola will work closely with Ayre to develop and implement operating policies, oversee compliance with Nashville SC, Major League Soccer (MLS) and U.S. Soccer rules, and represent the club as a public spokesperson.

“Lindsey has been an important part of the growth and success Nashville SC has experienced to date and I am certain she is going to continue to make a difference for our club as Chief Operating Officer,” says Nashville SC Lead Owner John Ingram. “Her energy, smarts and now experience make her a terrific fit for our future.”

Following two seasons as the club’s Senior Director of Club Administration, Paola was promoted to Chief of Staff in 2019 as the club graduated operations from the USL Championship to MLS. She currently oversees the administrative, IT, human resources, private and major events sales teams. Paola was also responsible for bringing the first concert, Shania Twain, to GEODIS Park as well as a variety of other non-MLS programming.

Before joining Nashville SC, she worked in the public sector and the federal government, including Frontier Communications, the United States Department of State, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Noblis. Paola started her career on the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign and from there worked on the 55th Presidential Inaugural Committee. She then worked in the White House Office of Vice Presidential Advance and the White House Counsel’s Office during the Bush-Cheney Administration.

Paola holds a Bachelor’s degree in political communications from The George Washington University and a Master’s degree in General Psychology from The Catholic University of America.