Zach Stein

The Boys in Gold from Nashville SC took the gold in the 110th Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Final, which featured two first-time finalists facing off for the first time this season. The match was hosted by Austin FC at Q2 Stadium, with a sellout crowd of 20,738 that included about 300 traveling Nashville fans. Hany Mukhtar opened the scoring for the visitors, but Sam Surridge’s record-tying penalty kick goal in the 60th minute proved to be the difference as Nashville defeated Austin FC 2-1. 

With the win, Nashville SC wins the club’s first major trophy since joining Major League Soccer in 2020 and becomes the first Tennessee-based club in the US Open Cup’s 110-year history to lift the trophy. It also is the first major trophy earned by a top-level professional team in any of the major sports leagues (MLS, NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL).

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Both teams played league matches last weekend, but only Austin’s starting eleven saw significant changes, with just four players kept in the lineup from their loss against Real Salt Lake. In contrast, Nashville’s starting eleven was nearly identical to how it was against Houston, with backup goalkeeper Brian Schwake in place of Joe Willis as the only replacement.

Nashville’s slow tempo making heavy use of crosses bore fruit in the 17th minute, as Hany Mukhtar volleyed in a ball that bounced off the chest of Jacob Schaffelburg into the far corner. It was Mukhtar’s fourth career Open Cup goal, and his first of the 2025 tournament.

Just two minutes later, Nashville goalkeeper Brian Schwake tripped Myrto Uzuni on a breakaway in the penalty box. The controversial call, which was upheld by video replay, led to Uzuni taking the penalty kick. However, Schwake made up for the foul by diving to his left to keep Austin off the scoresheet.

In the 30th minute, Dani Pereira received the first yellow card of the match on a reckless tackle. Austin’s aggressive pace put emphasis on creating one-on-one situations brought most of the first half’s chances, and on yet another one-on-one at the beginning of stoppage time.

Uzuni made up for his missed penalty by slotting captain Ilié Sanchez’s cross under Schwake to tie the match before halftime. In addition to being Uzuni’s third goal of the tournament, it was Sanchez’s first career Open Cup assist.

The second half was marred by numerous fouls, including a yellow card for Sanchez in the 50th minute. Seven minutes later, on a Nashville corner, Jeisson Palacios was fouled by Dani Pereira in the penalty box. Though Pereira avoided a second yellow card, Sam Surridge took the lead for Nashville by striking the ball right down the middle. The goal and the foul call that led to the PK would be a topic of post-game conversation. 

After the game, a number of Austin FC players and coaches did not hold back their criticism of the call made by referee Tori Penso, who made history on Wednesday night by leading the first all-female officiating crew for a US Open Cup Final in the tournament’s history.

“It’s a Final, it doesn’t matter how you play, it’s about winning the game,” said Austin FC’s Jon Gallagher. “But when you see the decision that was made to win the game: poor. I think we need to have an honest reflection about … the call. The second goal was poor.”

Surridge’s score from the penalty spot was his sixth goal of the competition, tying the single-tournament record for the Modern Era (1995-present). The England native became the 11th player in the Modern Era to score six goals in a single tournament, and first to do it since 2019 (Darwin Quintero – Minnesota United FC).

Two more yellow cards were given in the 61st and 66th minutes to Austin’s Julio Cascante and Jack Maher respectively. However, the steady march of fouls wasn’t able to prevent either team from creating chances. Austin began to float crosses high in the box but couldn’t time their headers to get the ball past Schwake.

The match slowed to a crawl by the 80th minute, as Nashville began to waste time and Austin abandoned their aggression in favor of a methodical approach relying on crosses. The booking and fouls continued to pile up for both teams, culminating in the sixth minute of stoppage time when Surridge received a second yellow card after he kicked the ball away as Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver tried to restart play with a goal kick. Though they were reduced to ten men for the final few seconds, Nashville blocked Osman Bukari’s last-ditch effort to tie the game for Austin.

Despite Austin having twice as many total shots and eight shots on target compared to Nashville’s two, Austin wasn’t able to make the most of their opportunities, while Nashville managed to stay clutch and composed against the sold-out crowd.

Nashville head coach B.J. Callaghan credited the Austin and Nashville supporters who combined for the seventh-largest crowd to witness a US Open Cup Final in tournament history.

“I give credit to the Austin fans, they made a difficult environment for us,” said Callaghan who went 5-0-0 in his first entry as a head coach in the US Open Cup this year. “But at the same time, I think it needs to be recognized that part of that largest crowd is a massive traveling crowd from Nashville. And how we handled it is that we heard them, we felt, you know, in the end of the game, you need that extra boost. So that hand on your back and then we were able to get that … credit for these guys, for putting in a big performance in a tough environment.”

After the final whistle blew, Nashville’s players jogged across the pitch to celebrate with the fans who gave them the boost they needed. With their US Open Cup title, Nashville have qualified for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Whether or not their next campaign in the Open Cup is successful, this tournament is undoubtedly the highlight of the young club’s history.

“It is important for us that we know that we can do it, that we can win a trophy,” Mukhtar told CBS Sports after the game. “It gives us extra confidence for the rest of the season.”

#USOC2025 Stats: 

* Nashville SC goalkeeper Joe Willis and forward Teal Bunbury joined an exclusive club. Both players joined James Riley as the only players to win three US Open Cup titles with three different clubs in the Modern Era. Joe Willis lifted the trophy with D.C. United in 2013 and with the Houston Dynamo in 2018. Bunbury won the tournament with Sporting Kansas City in 2012 and the New England Revolution in 2016.

* Brian Schwake becomes just the 11th goalkeeper to win the US Open Cup in the Modern Era and play in every game. He is one of only three on that list to be the team’s backup goalkeeper (Matt Pickens and Andrew Tarbell)

Jeff Causey (Richmond Kickers) – 1995
Zach THornton (Chicago Fire) – 2000
Kevin Hartman (Los Angeles Galaxy) – 2001
Jon Busch (Columbus Crew) – 2002
Matt Pickens (Chicago Fire) – 2006
Matt Reis (New England Revolution) – 2007
Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders FC) – 2009
Tim Melia (Sporting Kansas City) – 2015
Tim Melia (Sporting Kansas City) – 2017
Andrew Tarbell (Houston Dynamo) – 2023
Brian Schwake (Nashville SC) – 2025