On Wednesday at GEODIS Park, Nashville SC again looked a bit rusty, but dug deep and found a way to win 1-0 over CF Montréal thanks to a penalty goal from Sam Surridge.
Valair Shabilla
Let's take a look at how everyone played.
• Players begin with a base grade of 6 and can increase or decrease their rating based on performance.
• Players must play a minimum of 15 minutes to earn a rating.
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Brian Schwake - 8.0
Brian Schwake has probably been the best goalkeeper in MLS this season, as evidenced by his All-Star nod. A 13th clean sheet this season ties a club record, and we've not even hit the halfway point of the season.
Finding, scouting, and signing Schwake has to be one of the biggest home runs the Nashville front office has ever hit.
Stock: Up
Sofascore Rating: 8.0
That's another clean sheet for Brian Schwake, his 13th of the season. He's now tied with Joe Willis for the most clean sheets ever for Nashville in a single season.
— Ben Wright (@benwright) July 23, 2026
It took Willis 36 matches to hit that mark in 2021. Schwake has done it in 24. pic.twitter.com/oW0CZ1GXEH
Dan Lovitz - 7.0
Dan Lovitz didn't have his best passing night, completing just 77% of his attempts, but he did win five ground duels and log a key pass. All in all, a pretty good night for the 34-year-old.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 7.0
Maxwell Woledzi - 7.5
Maxwell Woledzi was again a rock at the back for the Coyotes, and completed 90 of his 93 passes attempted. He had a little bit less to do defensively compared to his centerback partner in Jeisson Palacios, but what he did have to do was always done.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 7.3
Gotta love Maxwell on the megaphone 📢 pic.twitter.com/UVrmVSZVYq
— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) July 23, 2026
Jeisson Palacios - 8.0
Jeisson Palacios picked up right where he left off. He completed 102 passes on the night, including 45 in Montréal's half and five of his eight attempted long balls. This is on top of his 100% win rate in both aerial and ground duels, which is something considering he was dealing with the man mountain that is CF Montréal striker Prince Owusu.
Stock: Up
Sofascore Rating: 8.1
Josh Bauer - 7.0
Josh Bauer definitely has his limitations in the final third at times, but as a defending right back, he's almost always reliable. This game was no exception.
That being said, Bauer did make a good contribution or two in attack against Montréal, logging one key pass. He's not Andy Nájar by any means, but having guys who can step in like Bauer is a huge part of building a championship-caliber roster.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 7.1
Matt Corcoran - 7.0
Matt Corcoran was a big connecting piece for Nashville in this game, completing eight of ten attempted long balls and 79 of his 83 total passes. He's very effective at switching the play, and on a night where Nashville has a bit more threat in wide areas, he could be an absolute killer in this respect.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 7.4
Eddi Tagseth - 7.5
Eddi Tagseth looked much more like himself in this one. Montréal played a very low block for much of the game, and Tagseth is incredibly useful in those situations with how effective he is at shuttling the ball from one side to the other as the Coyotes probe for openings. It feels like he is always open as an outlet pass, even right now as you read this.
Stock: Up
Sofascore Rating: 7.6
Alex Muyl - 7.0
Alex Muyl will definitely be re-running his 9th-minute miss in his head, but overall he again had a very solid and dependable performance. He was successful on three of four dribbles attempted and logged a key pass.
Nashville's Swiss Army knife continues to be among the most reliable performers in the league, even if he's unlikely to ever blow you away.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 6.9
Shak Mohammed - 6.5
Shak Mohammed didn't have his cleanest night, with several touches and passes that he'll want back, but he's still clearly on an upward trajectory with this team. He offers a verticality on the right that you generally don't get out of others in that spot, and even when it's not necessarily his night, he makes defenses think.
Stock: Up
Sofascore Rating: 7.1
Hany Mukhtar - 7.0
Hany Mukhtar was much more effective in this game than last time out, though again it is interesting to see how far to the right he's playing in the absence of Cristian Espinoza.
Shak Mohammed operates best when he can cut inside, and Mukhtar does a good job of drifting wide to enable the forward runs of Mohammed. It's not rocket science or anything, just an interesting wrinkle in the way Nashville plays with different personnel.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 7.0
Sam Surridge - 7.0
Sam Surridge overall had a fairly similar night to the one he did against Atlanta, until he didn't. Surridge was again, for large parts of the evening, either forced to drop very deep or very wide to collect the ball, or just not involved in the play at all.
Eventually, as star players tend to do, Surridge decided that he'd had enough of that. Surridge chased down a loose ball and won himself a (dodgy) penalty, which he slammed home right down the middle for his tenth goal of the season in the 68th minute.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 7.1
Left no doubt 🚀 https://t.co/04aVWa30rC pic.twitter.com/mA5t5SunAz
— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) July 23, 2026
Substitutes
Andy Nájar - 7.5
Andy Nájar didn't have the where-has-that-been-all-night type performance that he did on Friday against Atlanta, but the Honduran still changed the game once he came on. Without him in the lineup, it's easier for teams to blunt Nashville attacks, knowing that there isn't as much threat in wide areas.
Even in a team with Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge, Nájar may just be the very first name you write on the team sheet if everyone is healthy.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 7.0
Bryan Acosta - 7.0
Bryan Acosta has quietly been very good in his role for Nashville since the injury to Patrick Yazbek. He offers something a little different to Eddi Tagseth, whom he has been subbed on for in each of the last two games, and when the Coyotes need to switch things up, Acosta has been a very reliable option.
Stock: Up
Sofascore Rating: 6.7
Ahmed Qasem - 6.0
Ahmed Qasem was the casualty in the starting lineup as Alex Muyl was rewarded for his performance against Atlanta. When he came on, Surridge was lining up to take his penalty, and the game flipped from there as Montréal showed urgency, limiting Qasem's ability to contribute offensively.
There was one very poor giveaway by Qasem that led to a shot, but that's about the only negative he had on the night.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 6.3
Jack Maher - N/A
Jack Maher came on late when Nashville needed to calm things down, and that's more or less what happened. There was only enough time for Maher to make one clearance and complete two passes, but the result was all that mattered.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 6.7
Charles-Emile Brunet - N/A
It was a nice moment for rookie Charles-Émile Brunet to get to make an appearance in stoppage time against his hometown club and the academy of his youth. He even won a ground duel and got fouled for his trouble in just his fourth MLS match of the year.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 6.7
Manager
BJ Callaghan - 8.0
Once again, BJ Callaghan was practically forced into the starting lineup he went with, as injuries still abound. However, the changes he made were timely and all had a positive effect on the game. The likes of Espinoza, Yazbek, Madrigal, and Baker-Whiting can't come back soon enough, but Callaghan is squeezing all the juice out of their replacements in the meantime.
