MusicCityNashville.net: Nashville SC Enjoys a Season Full of Highlights in Music City

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Nashville SC Enjoys a Season Full of Highlights in Music City

by Rich and Laura Lynch

"Here come those highlighter sticks, now," quipped a member of the visiting press as the hometown favorites Nashville SC took the field for their first-ever playoff match against fellow inaugural footballers Inter Miami CF on Friday, November 20, 2020 at Nissan Stadium in Music City, Tennessee.

Nashville SC Enjoys a Season Full of Highlights in Music City

Nashville SC versus Inter Miami CF on Friday, November 20, 2020.

Yes, it's true. Rival detractors of our squad have taken to calling them "the highlighters" because the boys who defend the turf in Davidson County take the field in blue and gold - and the gold is more reminiscent of the ink in a yellow Sharpie than a chain you might wear around your neck. But, when your first season in the Majors is filled with momentous moments and dozens of actual historic highlights - you can have the last laugh.

A season full of highlights in Nashville!

The "play-in" contest against the boys in pink and black from Florida was perhaps the top highlight of the year as Nashville SC dominated possession through the first 45 minutes to take a commanding lead over David Beckham's flamingo festooned over-matched side ultimately emerging victorious 3-0 when the clock hit 90:00 to the joy of the 3,420 fans in the stadium.

Fancy footwork provided by the visiting Flamingos wasn't enough for a Miami win.

Scoring was led by Randall Leal in the 14th minute who tallied the franchise's first ever post season goal with a spectacularly determined strike into the back of the net. Momentum continued 10 minutes later when Hany Mukhtar sent the globe straight down the middle of the onion bag with a penalty kick and goal everyone in the stadium knew was on its way. When Dax McCarty applied his own fancy footwork with a 40 yard romp to convincingly punch one in from the 10-yard mark even the normally reserved coach Gary Smith was seen to break out in a wide grin in the realization that this match was all but over.

A season full of highlights in Nashville!

Other pinnacle points in the season included the home opener of February 29 in Nashville that presented the club to the league with their best foot forward as the largest crowd ever in Tennessee assembled to watch professional soccer in the state. Late in the season Nashville released a CGI video depicting their future home across town that got the whole city buzzing. When CB Walker Zimmerman was named to the MLS Best XI of 2020, well, that was just the icing on the cake for a team that wasn't expected to do too much in year one. But, with their dominant win against Miami, they in fact earned a date against Toronto on Tuesday night in the proper MLS Bracket where they hope to add even more memories to the highlight reel.