CINCINNATI, Ohio — Nashville SC put the finishing stamp on a historic regular season Saturday, beating FC Cincinnati 2-0 on Decision Day behind a pair of second-half scores from Sam Surridge and walking away with 77 points, the most any MLS club has collected in a single year.
The visitors ended the campaign at 23-3-8. They had already claimed the Supporters’ Shield and locked down the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, finishing 17 points ahead of Inter Miami. Miami’s 74-point total from 2024 had stood as the previous high; Nashville cleared that mark by three.
Surridge opened the scoring in the 61st minute, then struck again in the 86th for his 21st of the year. He had 24 a season ago, and the late brace placed him on a short list: only five players before him had reached 20 goals in consecutive MLS campaigns. Brian Schwake, Nashville’s rookie keeper, finished with five saves, four of them before halftime while the match was still scoreless.
Cincinnati slipped to 12-12-10 and 46 points. Combined with Columbus beating Chicago 4-3, the result dropped the hosts from seventh place to ninth in the East. They now travel Thursday for a wild-card game against Orlando City. Whoever advances from that match draws Nashville in a first-round series that is best of three.
The game was played at TQL Stadium under clear skies at 53 degrees, with kickoff at 4:10 p.m. ET and a sellout crowd of 25,513 looking on, the building’s 14th capacity house of the season. Andy Najar and Patrick Yazbek created the first goal; Yazbek and Josh Bauer created the second. Cincinnati attempted 15 shots to Nashville’s 14, and Roman Celentano recorded three saves. The same two clubs met in late August, when Nashville won 4-0 on its own field.
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