For the second season in a row, Nashville Soccer Club’s Walker Zimmerman has been named MLS Defender of the Year.

Zimmerman was one of the key components of the club’s historic success, leading the charge to an undefeated season at home and being tied for first for goals against (33), away goals against (15), and clean sheets (13).  In 2021, he played 2,041 minutes, scored three goals, and had an accurate pass percentage of 82.7%.

“Walker’s contributions and leadership to our team has helped transform a second-year expansion club into one of the elite defenses in Major League Soccer, and no one is more deserving of this distinguished honor. We are so proud of him,” says Nashville SC General Manager Mike Jacobs.

Nashville SC traded for Zimmerman in February of 2020 for $1.25 million after he spent two seasons with Los Angeles FC. Since then, he has been one of the best players in the league and has been the backbone for the club’s success in its first two seasons of existence.

“I’m extremely grateful to be named this year’s MLS Defender of the Year,” shares Zimmerman. “Individual accolades aren’t possible without the quality of teammates I have here in Nashville and the success we’ve had collectively as a group throughout our entire roster. It’s a special moment for me and an honor I’ll cherish forever. I’m thankful to everyone who voted from the players, the executives and the media, and to the fans in Nashville for their constant support.”

Zimmerman joins an exclusive list, becoming just the third player in MLS history to win the award in back-to-back seasons and the first in over a decade. Chad Marshall, while with the Columbus Crew, won the award in 2008 and 2009. Zimmerman was named to the 2021 MLS All-Star Team and was selected to the MLS Team of the Week four times this season.

The club ended the regular season with a record of 12-18-4 and third in the Eastern Conference. Nashville’s season ended on Sunday, Nov. 28 after the club lost to Philadelphia Union in a penalty shootout.

In front of a packed Nissan Stadium, Nashville SC punched its ticket to the second round of the MLS Cup Playoffs last night (Nov. 23) after beating Orlando City FC 3-1 behind Hany Mukhtar’s two goals.

Nashville fell behind early after Orlando’s Daryl Dike scored in the 14th minute off of a beautiful corner kick by Mauricio Pereira.

But in typical fashion, the goal didn’t faze NSC who played tough to level the game at 1-1 in the 21st minute with a goal by Mukhtar.

“We certainly had some good moments and dictated the game for good periods and so did they,” said head coach Gary Smith in a postgame press conference. “But it wasn’t until Hany scored that second goal–which was a tremendous individual moment–that it really separated the groups and gave us an opportunity to feel that there was a chance that we’re gonna win this game.”

In the second half, both teams fought to put shots on goal and Orlando would go on to possess the ball 65% of the time.

But that didn’t matter in the 74th minute when Mukhtar scored his second goal of the night, giving Nashville the lead and the eventual win.

“That’s what’s good about our team,” said Mukhtar. “It’s not about the individual. In the end, one has to score, but we know that we have to fight for each other. We have to give everything.”

Goalkeeper Joe Willis gave up only one goal and one save, proving the excellence played by Nashville’s defensive lead Walker Zimmerman. NSC won over 56% of the duels in the second half.

In stoppage time, Jhonder Cadiz scored the club’s third goal of the night, solidifying Nashville’s dominant performance and comeback victory.

“I can’t stress to you what that does to the mentality of a team, when you go away game after game after game against some tough teams. You’ve got to roll your sleeves up, you’ve got to work hard,” said Smith.

The Boys in Gold will head to Philadelphia this Sunday, Nov. 28 to face the Philadelphia Union who is coming off a 1-0 win against the New York Red Bulls.

Nashville played Philly twice this year, winning the first meetup 1-0 and losing the last one on Oct. 23 1-0.

The match will air on ESPN at 4:30 p.m. CT.

Nashville Soccer Club has reached a long-term partnership deal with Hyundai moving into the 2022 campaign. Hyundai now joins an exclusive group of Nashville SC founding partners and will serve as Nashville SC’s official automotive partner.

The official jersey sleeve patch on Nashville SC home and away jerseys will now feature the Hyundai logo, making NSC one of only a handful of teams in MLS to have a jersey sleeve partner. Hyundai’s logo has been on Nashville SC’s jersey sleeve in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons on an interim basis and now the automaker will be the club’s permanent sleeve partner.

“Hyundai has played such an important role in Nashville SC’s success since our MLS launch last season and it will be fitting to have Hyundai on our sleeve when we open our new home next spring,” says Will Alexander, chief revenue officer of Nashville SC.

Nashville SC and Hyundai have maintained a successful partnership since the club’s inaugural MLS season in 2020 and will continue towards 2022 and beyond with the arrival of Nashville SC Stadium.

“Hyundai and the Nashville Hyundai dealers are excited to be a founding partner of the Nashville Soccer Club,” says Paine Bone, president, Nashville Hyundai Dealers. “The growth and community engagement NSC has brought to our area echos our own history and makes this a perfect partnership, which we look forward to continuing for many years to come. Hyundai is proud to have the prominent jersey sleeve patch position and look forward to the first match at the new stadium when our permanent signage will be unveiled.”

Hyundai will have permanent signage in the stadium bowl, sponsored gates on the east side of the stadium, and be the presenting partner of Nashville SC’s Hero of the Match, which celebrates veterans and community leaders in Nashville.

Nashville SC will take on Orlando City SC at Nissan Stadium in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs on Nov. 23. Tickets for the match are on sale now. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT and will be aired on Fox Sports 1.

This will be the first time the club will host a MLS playoff game at Nissan Stadium. With the draw, Nashville finished the 2021 campaign with a record of 12W-4L-18D and 54 points. At home, Nashville SC completed the season unbeaten, owning a record of 8W-0L-9D.

This year, Nashville became only the seventh team in MLS history to finish a regular season without a home loss, while maintaining the league’s longest active home unbeaten streak. Nashville SC has gone 18 consecutive games without a home loss, dating back to last season with a 3-0 win in the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs against Inter Miami CF.

The biggest stars to watch this postseason will be goalkeeper Joe Willis, 2021 All-Star Walker Zimmerman and MVP contender Hany Mukhtar.

Willis has been one of the best goalkeepers in all of MLS this season, tying the league leader in clean sheets with 13. He set career highs in games started and played (34), minutes (3,060), shutouts (13), wins (12), saves (100), and goals against average (0.97). For Willis, his GAA was tied for the best in MLS among players who played 27 matches or more.

Zimmerman is a back-to-back MLS Defender of the Year and the anchor for the club. NSC has a record of 8W-3L-14D with Zimmerman in the lineup this season and ranked first among qualified Nashville SC outfield players in duel percentage at 65%.

This season, has scored 16 goals and registered 28 goals + assists, the most of any player in MLS. Mukhtar finished the season strong, scoring nine goals and registering eight assists in his final 15 matches of the season. In those 15 matches, Mukhtar went just three games without recording a goal or registering an assist in a match.

Mukhtar finished the regular season tied for fifth in MLS in goals, tied for fourth in assists with 12, tied for second in shots on target with 43 and finished fifth in shots with 94.