Martino One of Four Goalies Participating in the Event on Tuesday, July 18 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.
Nashville Soccer Club announced today in conjunction with MLS NEXT Pro that goalkeeper Ben Martino has been selected to participate in the Goalie Wars Exhibition at the 2023 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge presented by AT&T 5G.
The event, which will take place in Washington, D.C. at 6:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, July 18, can be watched live on the MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.
Martino who has participated with Nashville SC’s MLS NEXT Pro affiliate Huntsville City FC this season, was surprised by HCFC Head Coach Jack Collison and his teammates with a special message played at GEODIS Park revealing the honor.
Footage of that special message and Martino’s reaction can be found here.
Nashville SC originally signed Martino to a homegrown deal while acquiring Martino’s homegrown priority, in exchange for $50,000 in 2024 General Allocation Money (GAM) from the Philadelphia Union on Jan. 6, 2023.
Martino has made eight starts for Huntsville City FC this season, with four wins, 18 saves and a goals against average of 2.13.
Goalie Wars will feature four MLS NEXT Pro goalies as Ben Martino (Huntsville City FC) Damian Las (Austin FC II), Xavier Valdez (Houston Dynamo 2) and Isaac Walker (Crown Legacy FC) will face off one-on-one in a single-elimination competition.
During three :90 second rounds, each goalkeeper will defend his own net while trying to score on his opponent by throwing, kicking or drop-kicking the ball. For more information on the rules and regulations, click here.
Nashville SC will return to GEODIS Park on Saturday, July 1 to take on D.C. United at 7:30 p.m. CT on MLS Season Pass in the Apple TV app. The Boys in Gold own a 7W-1L-2D record this season at GEODIS Park and have not lost a match in Music City since March 25.
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 defeated 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 2021 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. Nashville SC inaugurated GEODIS Park, the largest soccer-specific stadium in the United States and Canada, in front of a 30,109-sellout crowd on May 1, 2022. For more information, visit NashvilleSC.com and follow the club at @NashvilleSC on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and Spotify.
