Wyatt Meyer’s late goal capped a back-and-forth match as Nashville SC defeated Orlando City 3-2 on a sweltering Wednesday night at Inter&Co Stadium to advance to the Quarterfinals of the 2025 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
With both sides level on points in the MLS Eastern Conference entering the match, Nashville opted to rotate its squad heavily, leaving Hany Mukhtar and Josh Bauer out while starting several younger players. That gamble paid off as the visitors outlasted an Orlando team coming off a rivalry win just days earlier against Inter Miami.
“We build confidence in the group by doing what we say. We say we have confidence in young players, we say that we’re gonna play young players.” said Nashville head coach BJ Callaghan. “They couldn’t have stepped on a bigger field tonight against a really good team, and they performed.”
Right from the kick off, both teams had a chance to get on the board early with a barrage of attacking phases. Nashville showed signs of carelessness while in possession, which if timed perfectly, could give Orlando a chance to break the deadlock.
The first real dangerous chance of the night came from Nashville’s Chris Applewhite. His header attempt from the a corner kick rang off the top right corner of the net.
Orlando saw this as a warning shot and took the initiative. On the next possession, a switch initiated by Dagur Thorhallsson found its way to Alexander Freeman. The right-back rushed down the wing and passed it over to Marco Pasalic. Pasalic laced it from outside the 18-yard box and score a goal of the week worthy contender.
Nashville needed to find a response quick, as Orlando showed in its previous Open Cup match against the Rowdies that it can suffocate its foes quickly. Within the final third, Ahmed Qasem made a lovely run inside the box, using some skill to get away from Orlando’s defenders. He teed it up for MLS & Open Cup stalwart, Teal Bunbury, who was within the six-yard box and tipped the ball into the net to open Nashville’s account.
The hydration break tempered the pace of the match, as both teams attempted to pace themselves after an intense first 30 minutes. Nashville was on a seemingly innocuous passage of play when Matthew Corcoran passed it over to Qasem, who was just outside the 18. Qasem proceeded to test his luck by sending a grounded shot towards the net. It caught Orlando’s keeper, Pedro Gallese, off guard as the ball curved into the net and gave Nashville the 2-1 lead going into halftime.
The second half started with only one change, as Bauer entered the game for Nashville. Now shooting towards The Ruckus & Iron Lion Firm, Orlando looked to equalize with their supporters backing them. On an attacking phase, Nashville’s defense over marked Orlando’s Ramiro Enrique. The ball was able to find its way to the wing, where Pasalic made a run. Enrique slotted it into a open pocket of space left by Nashville’s backline, opening a clear passing lane. Pasalic recognized the run and layed it off to Enrique, who blasted it into the net, leveling things up at 2-2 before the 60th minute.
With 30 minutes to go, both teams needed to rely on the strength of their roster to see the game through. Orlando saw the introduction of Ivan Angulo & Luis Muriel, as they looked to continue the momentum on attack while Jacob Shaffelburg came in to help support Nashville’s attack. Physicality picked up as both teams received a yellow card, Matthew Corcoran for Nashville & Alex Freeman for Orlando. An errand ball to the lower extremities of Applewhite brought about the final hydration break.
After the hydration break, 15 minutes remained and it was all to play for. Both teams did not want to enter extra time with the current situation of match congestion. Nashville started off with possession and kept it for the first few minutes as they tried to get back into a flow. Eventually, they started pushing into the final third and create opportunities.
Qasem found himself again on the ball on the right wing and did a great job battling Ivan Angulo as he was able to tip the ball over to Patrick Yazbek. In what was the move of the night, Yazbek made a backheel pass to Meyer, who was just outside the box as he struck it perfectly into the back of the net for his first career goal to give his team a 3-2 lead.
Meyer revealed after the win that he was not feeling well, which must have been torture in the humidity of Florida.
“I’m gonna be completely honest, I was suffering out there,” he said. “I kind of came into the game under the weather, but all the boys on the team were so encouraging and told me ‘Wyatt, you’re gonna have to dig deep and it’s a little hot but just get through it and grind for these guys.”
After that goal, Orlando went full attack for the remainder of the game. Duncan McGuire made his introduction to the game as an attacking minded sub, but unfortunately the decision to send out a relatively same squad for the weekend was starting to affect them. Multiple players seemed fatigued as attacking sequences fell flat.
Ultimately, Meyer’s shot was the final blow which advanced Nashville into the quarterfinals of this year’s Open Cup. The trust in the kids paid off for Nashville.
“When you get your number called, and you’re able to get on the field, show what you’re capable of and the players represented themselves well,” said assistant coach Michael Nsien.
