Nashville SC heads west to take on Sounders FC
Nashville SC has made the postseason in each of its first two seasons in Major League Soccer. The club takes aim at playoff appearance No. 3 this season, and the quest starts Sunday night in Seattle against another franchise that has seen plenty of success since it began play in 2009, Sounders FC.
Nashville lost only four matches, the fewest in MLS, and drew 18 times, the most in the league, last season. Known for a rugged defense, the club hopes it can generate more offense in 2022.
Nashville moves to the Western Conference after two seasons in the East. The team will play its first eight regular-season games on the road before opening a new soccer-specific stadium in Tennessee on May 1.
Leading goal scorer Hany Mukhtar returns after netting 16 last season. Mukhtar said this week that the Sounders were the first MLS team interested in him.
"The last season I had was definitely a good one," he said. "My goal is to stay fit, to stay healthy the whole season, because I know if I will be able to play all the games, I will help the team. That's my job."
The Sounders finished second in the West last season at 17-8-9, one point out of the top spot. But they were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs on penalty kicks last season, which was cause for major disappointment from a franchise that expects to win trophies every year.
Seattle has been to the postseason in all 13 seasons of its existence, and in perhaps a measure of revenge against Real Salt Lake for the playoff defeat last fall, the Sounders signed one of RSL's best players as a free agent, Albert Rusnak.
The Sounders are already playing important games. Their 5-0 win over FC Motagua of Honduras on Thursday night at Lumen Field sent them to the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, and Nicolas Lodeiro is back and healthy after playing only nine matches last season.
So is U.S. national team regular Jordan Morris, another big cog in the Sounders' attack.
"It's very nice to see us score five goals in a game and play the way that we did," Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan said. "But at the same time, we have a tough game in Nashville and MLS is very difficult. We have to take it game-by-game, week-by-week and definitely manage expectations. We're going to have lows throughout the season."
--Field Level Media
