Nashville SC stunned Orlando City on Wednesday night, with a heavily rotated side pulling off a 3-2 win in the US Open Cup Round of 16. The Coyotes are through to the Quarterfinals, ending Orlando's 12-match unbeaten run in the process.
The XI
BJ Callaghan threw a major curveball with his lineup selection, at first glance countering his messaging about how important the Open Cup is to Nashville (more on that in below). After a scoreless draw this weekend against DC United, which already saw a heavy bit of rotation, Callaghan made seven changes to his XI.
Nashville SC Starting XI vs Orlando City Schwake; Meyer, Applewhite, Palacios, Najar; Corcoran, Acosta, Yazbek; Qasem, Bunbury ©, Pérez BENCH: Valdez, Maher, Shaffelburg, Muyl, Bauer, O'Brien, Koffi
— SixOneFive Soccer (@sixonefivesoccer.com) 2025-05-21T22:56:50.965Z
Patrick Yazbek, Teal Bunbury, Chris Applewhite and Ahmed Qasem were the only players to keep their places in the lineup. Matt Corcoran made a surprise start in midfield, while players like Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge, Eddi Tagseth, Dan Lovitz and Joe Willis weren't even on the bench.
On the pitch
Against an Orlando side that made just two changes from the lineup that beat Miami 3-0 on Sunday, and had all three Designated Players in the squad, Nashville came out and surprisingly controlled the opening 15 minutes of play. While a good start, Marco Pašalić's 17th-minute strike put the hosts ahead and seemed to be a return to earth for Nashville.
It wasn't. The Coyotes equalized just six minutes later after a mazy run from Qasem. His cut-back cross was aimed for the feet of Bunbury but ended up scuttling in off a deflection from defender Rodrigo Schlegel.
Just before halftime, Nashville pulled ahead, again through Qasem. The Swedish youth international turned to find the Orlando backline retreating, and placed a low shot perfectly into the bottom corner.
Qasem making it look (too) easy 🧐#USOC2025 // @NashvilleSC pic.twitter.com/mGV7cy7Iws
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) May 22, 2025
After the break, Orlando unsurprisingly became more aggressive. They started testing Nashville's backline with balls over the top, particularly focused down their left flank. Their eventual equalizer came from a similar spot. Applewhite pushed up to try and win a ball in midfield, and Orlando took advantage of the space in behind to play Ramiro Enrique in on goal, and he made no mistake with his finish.
Nashville's hero came from an unlikely place. Wyatt Meyer, filling in for the injured Taylor Washington at left back, had the ball teed up for him after a mazy run from Qasem and an inviting heel-flick from Yazbek. The first-year pro took the ball on his weaker right foot, curling an inch-perfect shot into the side netting to put Nashville through to the Quarterfinals.
The big picture
After seeing a surprisingly heavily rotated lineup announced, the mood among the fanbase was less than positive. It turns out the changes weren't exactly planned.
"I would say [rotation] was not our original intention," Callaghan said after the match. "We've had few knocks that came out of the Saturday game and then also a couple that arose on Tuesday... But again, when we talk about how we want to play and how we want to train, how we want to prepare and how we want to perform, we have that next man up mentality and guys know their roles, know their responsibilities, they're locked in every week."
One of those players was Huntsville City midfielder Ethan O'Brien. The 24-year-old found out early on Tuesday afternoon that he'd be flying to Florida to fill in on short notice, and came off the bench for a crucial 32-minute shift. He trains regularly with Nashville and plays the exact same role in Huntsville, a huge benefit of having an aligned organization from top to bottom.
"The role that we put him in tonight is the role he's been doing down in Huntsville," said Callaghan. "Because they're doing the same things that we're doing up here in the first team, it's a seamless transition. And we have a ton of confidence to be able to put him in and do the role."
The win puts Nashville through to the US Open Cup Quarterfinals, matching their best-ever run in the competition (and ironically ended by Orlando City in a penalty shootout in 2022).
They'll find out their Quarterfinal draw on Thursday morning, aired live on CBS's Golazo Show. The Quarterfinals are scheduled to be played July 7-8.
Up next
Nashville will stay in Orlando to train for the next few days, before traveling north to play at Toronto FC on Saturday.
Stats
Possession: ORL 52% – 48% NSH
Passes completed: ORL 398 – 373 NSH
Shots: ORL 15 – 7 NSH
Shots on goal: ORL 3 – 3 NSH
Penalty kicks: ORL 0 – 0 NSH
Goals: ORL 2 – 3 NSH
Expected goals: ORL 1.17 – 0.19 NSH
Fouls: ORL 11 – 14 NSH
Yellow cards: ORL 1 – 2 NSH
Red cards: ORL 0 – 0 NSH
Announced attendance:
