Nashville SC picked up its first three points and win of the season with a convincing 2-0 win against New England Saturday.
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 – 7.8: Willis made it back-to-back clean sheets.  Although he wasn’t too particularly busy, per say, he did pull off some fantastic saves when he was called into action.
Daniel Lovitz – 7.5: Provided the cross that set up the opening goal for the hockey assist, but was good on the flank as well protecting that left side.
Dave Romney – 8: Romney kept the New England attack in his back pocket the entire match. Easily Nashville’s best defender on the day.
Walker Zimmerman – 8: Zimmerman was also his usual defensive stalwart, but also provided a fantastic header into the path of Sapong for the opening goal.
Alistar Johnston – 7.3: Had a crucial tackle late that prevented New England from scoring and breaking up the clean sheet.
Dax McCarty – 8.8: McCarty was an absolute workhorse in the middle, winning balls and putting in some great tackles. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come after a slow start for the captain.
Anibal Godoy – 7.8: Godoy almost had a signature banger from outside the box go in. One of those will eventually fall.
Alex Muyl – 8.3: Pretty quiet for Muyl all things considered but did slot home a great goal to ice the match.
Randall Leal – 7.8: Leal’s best two chances came back-to-back a few minutes into the second half, but was not as dangerous as he normally has been the first couple of matches creating chances.
CJ Sapong – 8.5: Great sliding finish from Sapong for the opening goal and his first in Nashville colors. Him and Badji had some great link-up play as a partnership up top.
Dominique Badji – 7.8: A lively performance from Badji, who really thrived with a strike partnership, as opposed to Nashville’s normal 4-2-3-1 with the lone striker.
SUBS
Jhonder Cadiz – 6.5: Brought in to try and slow the match down, Cadiz also had a great near-post effort from a tight angle.
Taylor Washington – 6.5: Former USL standout Washington was brought on for defensive purposes, but also made some great runs in his first MLS appearance of the season.
Jalil Anibaba – 6.3: With their lead secured, Anibaba was brought on as an extra defender to batten down the hatches and prevent any sort of New England comeback.
Matt LaGrassa – 6.3: Brought in to offer some defensive stability and steel in the midfield as Nashville looked to hold on to it’s 2-0 lead.
MANAGER
Gary Smith – 8.8: In what many considered a must-win match early in the season, head coach Gary Smith decided not only to have his side line up in a 4-4-2 formation but also have his top-goal scorer so far in Cadiz start off on the bench. The move paid massive dividends, as Nashville was in complete control the entire match and held New England in check from creating any real chances.
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!
