The Boys in Gold will now turn their attention to Sunday’s match at Portland Timbers

Nashville Soccer Club fell 2-0 to the Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field Wednesday night. The Boys in Gold head to Portland Sunday for the midpoint of their three-match road trip unbeaten in four of their last five matches away from GEODIS Park (2W-1L-2D).

A Forster first: Nashville SC’s Forster Ajago made his debut start in Major League Soccer Wednesday night after appearing in the club’s last three matches as a substitute. The first year forward played all 90 minutes plus six minutes of extra time, registering one shot on goal and factoring in on multiple scoring chances including a disallowed Nashville goal.

MLS debut: Nashville SC defender Joey Skinner, a member of the 2023 Generation adidas class and the 11th pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, made his MLS debut when he subbed into the match during the 87th minute.  

Callaghan appointed head coach: Nashville SC announced earlier Wednesday that United States Men’s National Team assistant coach B.J. Callaghan has been appointed the second head coach in club history. Callaghan will join the team on July 22nd and make his touchline debut on July 31st when the Boys in Gold host Mazatlán F.C. in Leagues Cup 2024 Group Stage play at GEODIS Park.

Next up: Nashville SC continues its three-match road trip when it heads west to take on the Portland Timbers at Providence Park on Sunday, July 7 at 9:30 p.m. CT.

Match timeline:

CLB 30’: Cucho Hernandez sends a ball into the six-yard box, and Christian Ramirez nods it home

CLB 65’: Cucho Hernandez finds Yaw Yeboah up field who connects with Diego Rossi, and Rossi slots the ball home

Notes:

  • Nashville SC:
    • announced the hiring of B.J. Callaghan as the second head coach in club history today
    • is unbeaten in four of its last five road matches (2W-1L-2D)
    • is 38W-29L-37D all-time against Eastern Conference opponents
    • is 20W-7L-11D all-time on weekdays
    • is 5W-6L-5D all-time in the month of July
  • Forster Ajago made his first MLS start and fourth-straight appearance
  • Tah Brian Anunga is two appearances away from 100 MLS games played, all as a Boy in Gold
  • Jack Maher
    • leads Nashville SC with 19 games started and 1,708 minutes
    • led Nashville SC with 90.4% passing accuracy (minimum 40 completed passes)
  • Alex Muyl leads Nashville SC with 21 games played
  • Joey Skinner made his MLS debut in the 87th minute
  • Walker Zimmerman led the team with four clearances

Box score:

Nashville SC (6W-7L-8D) at Columbus Crew (10W-3L-6D)

July 3, 2024 – Lower.com Field

Final score:

NSH: 0

CLB: 2

Scoring summary:

CLB: Christian Ramirez (A: Cucho Hernandez) 30’

CLB: Diego Rossi (A: Yaw Yeboah, Cucho Hernandez) 65’ 

Discipline:

NSH: Tah Brian Anunga (Caution) 46’

NSH: Dru Yearwood (Caution) 78’ 

Lineups:
NSH starters: Joe Willis; Dan Lovitz (Taylor Washington 79’), Jack Maher, Josh Bauer, Walker Zimmerman (C); Hany Mukhtar, Dru Yearwood (Sean Davis 79’), Alex Muyl (Teal Bunbury 79’), Tah Brian Anunga; Tyler Boyd (Joey Skinner 87’), Forster Ajago

Substitutes: Elliot Panicco, Ben Martino, Amar Sejdić, Isaiah Jones

CLB starters: Patrick Schulte; Rudy Camacho, Malte Amundsen, Mohamed Farsi (Marino Hinestroza 79’), Steven Moreira; Darlington Nagbe (C), Sean Zawadzki, Max Arfsten (Yaw Yeboah 46’); Cucho Hernandez (Derrick Jones 84’), Diego Rossi, Christian Ramirez (Alexandru Matan 79’)

Substitutes: Nicholas Hagen, Will Sands, Taha Habroune, Yevhen Cheberko, Cole Mrowka 

Match officials:

Referee: Joe Dickerson

AR1: Kevin Klinger

AR2: Kali Smith

4TH: Pierre-Luc Lauziere

VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero

AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert

Weather: 74 degrees, mostly cloudy

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, X (formerly Twitter) and Spotify.