Nashville SC concluded its regular season campaign with a 1-1 draw against New York Red Bulls Sunday.
Below are our player ratings.
Each member of the Speedway Soccer crew gives each player that saw the pitch a rating based on their match performance. Below is a quick guideline for our evaluation process.
- A rating of 6 denotes an average performance. Each player starts out with a 6 and their performance either adds or subtracts from that rating.
- Scores are determined after re-watching the match and looking at the stats, and are the averaged total of each Speedway member’s ratings.
Joe Willis – 7.3: Was really put in an awkward spot not even a minute into the match on the Red Bull’s opening goal, but had four saves on the day after. Finished the season as the joint-holder for the most clean sheets with Red Bull’s Carlos Coronel and Colorado Rapids William Yarbrough.
Eric Miller – 6.3: Miller did not do well in preventing the opening goal, as he was not convincing trying to make an attempt to clear the cross that was played in.
Dan Lovitz – 7:  Won half of his duels and completed two key passes.
Walker Zimmerman – 7.3: Zimmerman could’ve easily found Nashville’s equalizer with an absolutely thunderous header from a corner that went just over the bar. Had five clearances and four interceptions.
Jack Maher – 6.8: Maher played on the left side in the absence of Dave Romney and didn’t look as comfortable on the left, losing more than half of his duels.
Anibal Godoy – 8: Was an absolute workhorse in the midfield, winning 15 duels, recovered the ball 16 times, and completed 87% of his passes.
Alistar Johnston – 7.5:  Johnston completed five accurate long balls and three successful crosses, as well as helped create two chances on goal.
Alex Muyl – 6:  Muyl just does not operate well as an 8, which is no fault of his own. He works hard, but just operates better on the flanks.
Hany Mukhtar – 8: The angle Mukhtar faced for his free-kick was fairly tight, yet he was able to fire the ball near post for the equalizer, helping him close out on his historic season.
Randall Leal – 5.8: Lost possession the most out of any Nashville SC player (five) and only recorded one shot.
CJ Sapong – 5.3: Sapong will need to refind his form soon as Nashville enters the postseason, as his play the last couple of matches has been less than convincing. Not only did he have only shot, but he also lost 16 duels.
SUBS
Dax McCarty – 6: McCarty makes a world’s difference for the midfield with his linkup play, which was apparent as soon as he entered the match. Although he lost both duels and only completed 67% of his passes, his presence will help as Nashville prepares for it’s first-round playoff match.
Ake Loba – 6:  Was just off from Cadiz’s cross. Only had eight touches, but completed all three passes.
Jhonder Cadiz – 6.5:  Had a fantastic cross into the box that might’ve resulted in the match-winner. Was easily his best showing since early in the season.
MANAGER
Gary Smith – 7.5: Smith went into this match deciding to give his iron man center-back Dave Romney a rest, as well as leaving his do-it-all midfielder McCarty on the bench. Although his side went down early, they were bailed out by more Mukhtar brilliance, and thus officially cemented their spot as the three-seed in the Eastern Conference with a date against Orlando City.
What say you? Do you agree or disagree with our match ratings? Feel free to reach out to us on Twitter and let us know your thoughts.
