How homeless start to 2022 season prepped Nashville SC for these MLS Cup Playoffs
LOS ANGELES — Nashville SC is back in the Major League Soccer playoffs for the third straight season — but it's not who we thought it would be when the season began.
The expectation was for Nashville SC to simply survive a grueling eight-game road series at the beginning of the season before beginning play in the nation's largest soccer-specific home stadium — the 30,000-seat Geodis Park — in May. The guess was the club would continue the home unbeaten streak it had established at Nissan Stadium last season en route to another berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Nashville indeed extended its playoff streak, becoming the fifth expansion team in MLS history to make the postseason in its first three years in the league. But it did so by winning more road games (7) than home (6) games, a feat only two other MLS teams achieved. And so, the club begins postseason play as a No. 5 seed Saturday in Los Angeles against No. 4 LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park (2 p.m., Univision, TUDN, MLSsoccer.com).
Nashville could play its playoff games exclusively on the road, which in a twist of irony is where the team has been its best all year.
"I remember joining the team in preseason and one of the talking points was this opening road stretch," said midfielder Sean Davis. "We knew we could be even better on the road than we were in years past. And when you look back on this year, it ended up being our road form that helped us get into the playoffs and push for a higher seed."
In that eight-game road stretch, Nashville posted a 3-3-2 record (11 points). Its 1.57 points per game in the first seven games is the best in MLS history through that span. Nashville even started and ended the regular season with a road win.
On Feb. 22 in its season opener, Nashville upset the Seattle Sounders, the MLS' first FIFA Club World Cup qualifier. Then last Sunday in its season finale, Nashville silenced MLS regular season champion Los Angeles FC. Both by a 1-0 score.
"Absolutely, we could have lost the game," Nashville coach Gary Smith said about the LAFC match. "There were enough opportunities for LAFC to win the game. But Joe (Willis) was outstanding on the day. And the rest of the group managed on a lot of occasions."
That contrasts with Nashville at Geodis Park. Since its first home game May 1 against the Philadelphia Union, in front of a sold-out 31,109 for the stadium's debut, the team failed to string back-to-back home wins and in August lost back-to-back home games for the first time.
All told, Nashville hasn't lost a road game since July 9, making it a dark horse of sorts in the postseason.
"When you look at our away performances, you can see a group that's really tight-knit," Davis said. "A group that's together and just a group that's really well prepared. We know that at times we might be in a lower (defensive) block and absorbing pressure. But at the same time, we have some unbelievable guys on the counter. And I think that always gives us a good chance."
One of those guys is MLS MVP candidate Hany Mukhtar, whose 23 goals were the most in the league this season.
"These are not going to be easy games," Smith said. "The first one obviously is instrumental to take on board a second, but I think this will be, as we look at it, as difficult as anything as we've run into in the postseason for sure."
For stories about Nashville SC or Soccer in Tennessee, contact Drake Hills at DHills@gannett.com. Follow Drake on Twitter at @LiveLifeDrake. Connect with Drake on Instagram at @drakehillssoccer and on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How homeless start prepped Nashville SC for 2022 MLS Cup playoffs
