The Boys in Gold Earn Third Consecutive MLS Result with 10 Changes to Starting XI
Sunday’s Fixture Meant Nashville’s Sixth Match in 18 Days
Teal Bunbury and Dru Yearwood Score; Panicco Stops Penalty Kick
Nashville SC Remains Unbeaten across all Competitions in 2024 with a Record of 2W-0L-4D
Nashville SC earned a 2-2 draw against the LA Galaxy at GEODIS Park Sunday afternoon behind goals from midfielders Teal Bunbury and Dru Yearwood. Goalkeeper Elliot Panicco stopped six shots, including a penalty kick in the 18th minute. Nashville SC’s record in MLS play is now 0W-0L-3D.
Captain, My Captain: Nashville SC attacking midfielder Teal Bunbury, who scored on a penalty kick in the match’s 54th minute (his second penalty kick goal in his last two MLS matches), served as team captain Sunday for the first time as a Boy in Gold. Bunbury, who has been with NSC since 2022, is sixth all-time among active players in MLS regular season games played with 371. He is the third Boy in Gold to wear the captain’s band in MLS play this season (also Sean Davis, Walker Zimmerman).
Druuuu: Midfielder Dru Yearwood notched his first goal as a Boy in Gold when he scored in the match’s 58th minute. Yearwood was acquired in the offseason from the New York Red Bulls.
Fresh Start(s): Nashville SC’s lineup Sunday afternoon featured 10 changes to its starting XI from last Thursday’s Concacaf Champions Cup match against Inter Miami CF and 10 changes from its last MLS match against the Colorado Rapids on March 2, 2024. Six Nashville SC players made their first MLS starts of 2024: goalkeeper Elliot Panicco, defenders Josh Bauer and Brent Kallman, midfielders Amar Sejdić and Tah Brian Anunga, and attacker McKinze Gaines.
Next up: The Boys in Gold will return to Concacaf Champions Cup (CCC) play Wednesday, March 13 at 7:15 p.m. CT in South Florida when they visit Inter Miami CF for the second leg of the Round of 16. The two-leg series, which will be decided on aggregate, is even at 2-2. On Saturday, March 16, Nashville SC continues MLS play when it hosts Charlotte FC at 7:30 p.m. CT at GEODIS Park. Tickets for Saturday night’s match against Charlotte FC are available here.
Match Timeline:
NSH 54’: Dru Yearwood draws a penalty for Nashville SC and Teal Bunbury steps up to the spot to convert, tucking the ball away in the right side of the net
NSH 58’: McKinze Gaines finds Dru Yearwood inside the box, and Yearwood rockets the ball up to the top of the net
LA 67’: Riqui Puig picks up a rogue ball headed towards Nashville SC’s goal and gets one back for LA
LA 83’: Dejan Joveljic picks up a deflected shot from Julian Aude and finds the net
Notes:
- Nashville SC:
- remains undefeated in the 2024 season across all competitions (2W-0L-4D)
- recorded 13 shots, four shots on goal and had 1.53 expected goals (xG)
- recorded 84% passing accuracy
- extended its record against Western Conference teams to 17W-12L-16D
- extended its record to 14W-14L-31D when tied at half
- extended its record to 12W-0L-9D when scoring two
- extended its record to 41W-5L-18D when scoring first
- extended its record to 1W-5L-4D in March
- Tyler Boyd saw 19 minutes against his former team
- Teal Bunbury
- converted two straight penalty attempts across his last two MLS matches, his first attempts since 2018 (with SKC)
- served as team captain for the first time as a Boy in Gold
- led the team in expected goals (xG) with 0.77
- Hany Mukhtar
- saw the field for the first time in MLS play this season, registering 19 minutes
- started in Nashville SC’s March 7, 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup match against Inter Miami CF, registering 82 minutes
- registered 35 minutes due to injury and scored a goal in Nashville SC’s Concacaf Champions Cup debut on Feb. 22, 2024 in the Dominican Republic against Moca FC
- Alex Muyl led the team in passing accuracy (93%) (also, Amar Sejdić)
- Elliot Panicco
- recorded six saves, including one penalty kick save
- has faced 37 penalties in net for the Boys in Gold across all competitions (including shootouts) and has saved eight attempts (five of them coming since Aug. 2023)
- Amar Sejdić led the team in passing accuracy (93%) (also, Alex Muyl)
- Sam Surridge saw the field for the first time in 2024 MLS play, and for the first time across all competitions since Feb. 22, 2024, when he was subbed out against Moca FC in the 53rd minute due to injury. He registered 15 minutes.
- Dru Yearwood
- recorded his first goal contributions as a Boy in Gold after drawing a penalty in the 54th minute and scoring in the 58th minute
- led the team in shots with four
Box Score:
Nashville SC (0W-0L-3D) vs. LA Galaxy (1W-0L-2D)
March 10, 2024 – GEODIS Park
Final Score:
NSH:Â Â 2
LA: 2
Scoring Summary:
NSH: Teal Bunbury (PK) 54’
NSH: Dru Yearwood (A: McKinze Gaines) 58’
LA: Riqui Puig (A: Mark Delgado) 67’
LA: Dejan Joveljic (A: Julian Aude) 83’
Discipline:
NSH: Dru Yearwood (Caution) 38’
LA: Martin Caceres (Caution) 42’
NSH: Jacob Shaffelburg (Caution) 90’ + 6
Lineups:               NSH Starters: Elliot Panicco; Jack Maher, Josh Bauer (Jacob Shaffelburg 85’), Taylor Washington, Brent Kallman; Amar Sejdić (Tyler Boyd 71’), Teal Bunbury (C) (Sam Surridge 75’), Dru Yearwood, Alex Muyl (Shaq Moore 46’), Tah Brian Anunga; McKinze Gaines (Hany Mukhtar 71’)
Substitutes: Joe Willis, Dan Lovitz, Lukas MacNaughton, AnÃbal Godoy
LA Starters: John McCarthy; Miki Yamane, Julian Aude (John Nelson 88’), Maya Yoshida (C), Martin Caceres; Diego Fagundez (Miguel Berry 61’), Mark Delgado, Riqui Puig, Edwin Cerrillo (Gaston Brugman 61’); Dejan Joveljic (Daniel Aguirre 90’ +3), Joseph Painstil
Substitutes: Eriq Zavaleta, Jonathan Perez, Mauricio Cuevas, Gino Vivi, Novak Micovic
Match Officials:
Referee: Wesley Costa
AR1: Albert Escovar
AR2: Jose Landa Jr.
4TH: Jorge Luna
VAR: Mark Geiger
Weather: Sunny, 52 degrees
Nashville SC joined Major League Soccer on Feb. 29, 2020 in front of the largest attendance ever recorded for a soccer match in the State of Tennessee. In its inaugural MLS season, Nashville SC defied expectations by becoming the second MLS expansion side to win and advance to the Conference Semifinals in the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. Nashville SC returned to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in its sophomore season after becoming just the seventh team in MLS history to go unbeaten at home in a season. The Boys in Gold again qualified for the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in both 2022 and 2023, becoming just the third team in league history to reach the postseason during the team’s first four years in existence. Nashville SC inaugurated GEODIS Park, the largest soccer-specific stadium in the United States and Canada, in front of a sellout crowd of 30,109 on May 1, 2022. For more information, visit NashvilleSC.com and follow the club at @NashvilleSC on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and Spotify.
