Surridge Fires Nashville to MLS Points Record as 2-0 Win at Cincinnati Caps Historic Season

There was still a quarter of an hour to play in Cincinnati when Sam Surridge settled the argument. Patrick Yazbek broke into space, slipped his striker through with Nashville holding a three-on-one, and Surridge curled a finish home to seal a 2-0 win — and with it the greatest regular season Major League Soccer has ever seen.

Nashville SC finished on 77 points. That is three more than the 74 Inter Miami managed in 2024, the previous record, to cap a campaign that has rewritten the league's record book. Twenty-three wins, eight draws and only three defeats from 34 games. No team in the post-shootout era has ever won as many games in a single regular season, none has lost as few, and none has conceded as few goals as Nashville's 25. The shutout was their 17th clean sheet, equalling the league record, and goalkeeper Brian Schwake tied Tony Meola's individual mark of 16.

None of it looked certain at half-time. Cincinnati had the better of the opening 45 minutes and thought they had taken the lead in the 22nd minute, when Pavel Bucha's lofted cross found Tom Barlow unmarked at the back post. The flag went up immediately, Barlow had crept offside, and the goal was chalked off. Cincinnati still finished the half with eight shots to Nashville's one on target. A draw would have been enough for Nashville to set the record. At the break, it was not even clear they would get that.

The second half belonged to Surridge. In the 61st minute Andy Najar sent him in behind with a curling pass from just past halfway, and the striker took one touch before finishing into the bottom left corner. It was his 20th league goal of the season. When Yazbek broke clear in the 86th minute and fed Surridge again, the finish was assured, taking him to 21 for the season.

Defender Jack Maher summed up what it had taken. "The team as a whole has been so collected, so strong through 34 games," he said. "I think that's something that's going to go down in the record books for a really long time. Whenever you look over the course of 34 games, the consistency that that takes, that speaks to not only our strongest group always being able to go out and have incredible performances. But that speaks to the depth that we've had here."

Captain Hany Mukhtar, according to Maher, was already looking past the history. In the locker room he told his teammates to postpone the celebrations until December 18, the date of the MLS Cup final. Nashville won the Supporters' Shield by 13 points, the largest margin in league history, and will host all but one of their potential playoff matches. Their first-round series begins on November 22 at Geodis Park, against the winner of the Orlando City-FC Cincinnati wild-card match. "It's a new season. The regular season is over," coach B.J. Callaghan said. "We'll enjoy it tonight. We'll make sure we're allowed to go one notch above emotionally neutral and then we'll get right back to work."

They have just produced the finest regular season the league has seen. "This group is so special and has been from day one," Maher said. "Whenever you're in a groove like we are, the thought each and every time you step on the field is not, 'Are we going to win?' It's, 'How many goals are we going to win by?' And that is an unbelievable feeling that we've earned." On the evidence of 34 games, it is hard to argue with him.